Yugioh! DT: The Rewrite
by Blue Void
Summary: 20 years after the events of GX, an new group of students arrive to hone their skills and face new challenges. But they will soon learn that the Sacred Beasts aren't the school's only secret. Currently accepting OC's
1. Duel Start!

**Author's Note**

**Okay, so here I am, back on Fanfiction** **after an...extended hiatus. For those of you who are reading this for a second time, welcome back and I'm sorry I've been out of touch for so long! If you submitted an OC before, unfortunately, I will ask you to re submit him/her. For those of you who are reading this story for the first time, let me clarify a few things. Because of the massive time difference, Synchro monsters will be used in this fic. I plan to use Xyz monsters EVENTUALLY, but not right now. I will go through OC submission rules at the end of the chapter. With all of that out of the way, enjoy!**

"I can't believe this!" cried Zach as he sprinted toward the docks. He couldn't bear to be embarrassed again, not after what happened at the Duel Academy entrance exams. He was mopping the floor with his opponent until his duel disk just shut down on him. Normally, he would have been disqualified, but Zach did well enough on the written portion and performed spectacularly until his disk shut down. On top of which, the proctor had taken a liking to Zach, so they decided to make an exception. The only thing was that Zach would be placed in the Osiris Red dorms, as opposed to Ra Yellow.

Zach just seemed to have that effect on people. How could you not like him? Zach was a bit short for his age, at least by American standards, normal height by Japanese ones. He had messy golden blonde hair, and friendly brown eyes.

Though, his talent for getting people to like him wouldn't do much good here. He had no idea what time it was, but he was sure the boat to duel academy was getting ready to leave. Then, he saw it, the massive cruise ship with the Kaiba Corp and Duel Academy logos on it. Standing before the walkway up to the massive ship were two guards in traditional black tie suits. Talking to them was a small girl, with short brown hair that contained light brown streaks.

"Yes, I made it," Zach muttered to himself. "Hey, wait for me!" he cried. The two men and the girl all turned to him. The girl's face beamed, and she waved at him.

"There you are, Zach!" she cried. "What took you so long?"

"Mina?" said Zach, with a touch of relief. The brown eyed, brown haired girl was one he had met at the entrance exams. The girl was a ball of fire. She was cheerful, hyperactive, enthusiastic and passionate about almost everything. The girl had so much energy; Zach was almost intimidated by it.

"You're lucky, kid," said one of the men in the suits. "If not for your girlfriend here, the boat probably would have left by now."

"Ah, no," Zach started, "she's not my—," but before he could finish, his arm was nearly yanked out of its socket by Mina, who was now dragging him up the walkway.

"C'mon Zach, everyone's waiting," the girl said, as she dragged Zach's arm.

"Everyone?" asked Zach, trying to free his arm from Mina's grip. She was surprisingly strong for her size. "Who's everyone? The only person I know on this boat is you."

Since they were now on the boat's deck, Mina let go of Zach's arm and looked at him with that intoxicatingly bright smile of hers. "Don't worry, I have some other friends on this boat who asked me to meet them here. Speaking of which," she turned her attention to a tall boy with shoulder length black hair, "Ryu, hey! Over here!"

The black haired boy turned and smiled as Mina waved at him vigorously, then quickly jogged over. "Yo, Mina, good to see you again. I take it this is your friend?" he said turning toward Zach, sticking out his hand.

"It's Zach," he said taking the tall boy's hand, "Zach Weiler."

"Sick name," remarked Ryu. "Mine's Ryu, Tamanaki Ryu."

"You're Japanese?" asked Zach. "You speak English pretty well."

"I moved to the states when I was really young, but my parents still taught me Japanese culture and traditions. I can speak both languages fairly well. Now let's get inside, it's starting to get cold out here."

* * *

><p>Once the three got inside the cruise ship's main hall, they made their way toward two people standing near a table. The first was a young man, about as tall as Ryu but with long, light blonde hair. The second was the most beautiful girl Zach had ever seen. She had an hourglass figure and golden blonde hair that traveled down to her waist, accompanied by emerald green eyes.<p>

The girl was the first to notice the three. She smiled and waved. "Ryu, Mina, there you are. They were just about to serve dinner, I was afraid you'd miss it." It was then that she noticed Zach. "Oh, who's this?"

Ryu turned to Zach. "Zach, I'd like you to meet a couple of friends." Ryu pointed toward the boy, who scratched the back of his head nervously. "This guy's name is Chase. He's a tad shy, but great once you get to know him."

"H-hello," said Chase nervously.

"And this here is Tits Mcgee," said Ryu, to which the blonde girl punched him in the back of the head.

"I swear to god, if you call me that one more time, I'll break your neck," said the blonde girl, gritting her teeth.

"Oh c'mon, it was a compliment," Ryu said sheepishly. "Don't take it so seriously."

The blonde girl blushed and covered the rather large bulge in her chest with her arms. "It's not funny Ryu. You know how sensitive I am about my looks. Do you know how hard it is not having any friends of my own gender?"

"Okay, I'm sorry," said Ryu. Zach couldn't tell if he said it reluctantly or sincerely. "Anyway," continued Ryu, "this is Becca. She hangs out with us because we're the only ones who don't ogle her or envy her."

"Sorry you had to see that," Becca said to Zach. "Like I said, I don't like it when people talk about the way I look."

"Its fine," said Zach with a shrug. "Everyone's sensitive about something. I used get angry every time someone commented about my height."

"Let's take a seat," said Ryu. "Zach, you have your deck right? Why don't we duel? Without our disks, of course."

"Sure, why not?" replied Zach. The five of them sat down at the table, while Zach and Ryu pulled out their decks. Just as they were shuffling, Chase nearly jumped out of his chair as someone put a hand on his shoulder.

"What's goin on bro?" said the man standing behind Chase. Everyone at the table except for Zach frowned at the appearance of this new person. He looked almost exactly like Chase, except his hair was dirty blonde instead of light blonde. "What're you doin hanging out with these losers? Why not come sit with some duelists closer to your level?" He glanced at Ryu as he said this.

"Who's this guy?" Zach whispered in Mina's ear.

"He's David, Chase's twin brother," Mina whispered back. "The difference between them is like Yin and Yang."

"Piss off, David," spat Becca. "Why don't you take your cronies and leave your brother alone."

"So the beauty of Pegasus Prep comes to the rescue," mocked David. "It's not my fault if I want my little bro to move up in the world, is it?"

"David, please," begged Chase. David raised an eyebrow and turned to his brother. Chase looked down at the table. "I'm hanging out with my friends. Can you please leave us alone?"

"You want me to leave?" asked David, who smirked. "Tell you what, if you can beat me in a duel, I'll leave. How does that sound?" When Chase didn't respond, David snickered. "How about the rest of you? If any of you can beat me in a duel, I'll leave you alone. So, who wants some?"

Zach growled, and stood up aggressively. "I'll take you on!"

The others turned to Zach with surprised looks. David raised an eyebrow. "I remember you. Aren't you that kid whose disk shut down in the middle of the practical exam?"

Zach's face turned bright red. "Yeah, so what?"

David sneered. "You've got guts kid. Fine, I accept. Though, I'd advise you to borrow a duel disk. You don't want a repeat of the entrance exams, do you?"

"Zach, are you sure about this?" questioned Becca. "David was one of the strongest duelists at our prep school. Beating him won't be easy, on top of which, he likes to humiliate his opponents. You might not be able to handle this."

"Well I won't know that until I duel him, will I?" Zach retorted. "Besides, this guy's a bully. Someone needs to put him in his place."

"Zach," pleaded Becca, but she was stopped by Ryu, who held out a duel disk for Zach. At first, Zach was surprised by the gesture, but then smiled and took the disk.

"Thanks man," he said to Ryu, after fitting the disk on his arm.

"Any time," responded Ryu. "Besides, you're right. Someone needs to put this guy in his place."

The whole room saw that a duel was about to take place, and made room for the two duelists. David and Zach walked away from each other until they were 30 feet apart.

"You sure you wanna do this kid?" asked David, activating his duel disk. "Now's your chance to call it quits."

"What kind of a duelist would I be if I backed down now?" retorted Zach, activating the disk around his arm.

"Have it your way," responded David with a shrug.

"_Duel!_"

Zach: 4000

David: 4000

"I'll go first," said David, drawing six cards. "I summon Skull Servant in defense mode!" he cried as a skeleton in a black robe appeared in a crouching position (DEF: 200). "Now I play a card face down and end my turn."

"Oh great," moaned Chase. "He's using _that_ deck."

"This Zach kid won't know what's coming until it's too late," said Becca.

"If that's all you got, then it's my turn! Draw!" cried Zach, adding a sixth card to his hand. "I summon the level three tuner monster Ghost Warrior in attack mode! (ATK: 1400)" A man garbed in a white samurai outfit with a blue breastplate and red demon mask rose to the field, wielding a six foot long spear. Under the red mask, his eyes shone an eerie yellow.

"Now, Ghost Warrior, attack his Skull Servant! Partisan Strike!" The ghostly figure charged at the skeleton with its spear held out in front. "And when Ghost Warrior attacks, it gets 400 atk during the damage step! (ATK: 1400→1800)" The white warrior drove its spear into the skeleton, causing it to shatter into thousands of tiny pixels.

"I activate the trap card Human-Wave Tactics!" cried David. "During each of my end phases, I can summon a number of level two or lower normal monsters from my deck equal to the number that were destroyed this turn."

"Fine," said Zach, "I'll end my turn."

"And my Human-Wave Tactics comes into play, letting me summon another Skull Servant from my deck. (DEF: 200) Now I draw," said David, adding a fifth card to his hand. "I summon my third Skull Servant in defense mode." Yet another skeleton in black robes appeared on the field. (DEF: 200) "I place one card face down and end."

Zach grimaced. He knew something was up. "I draw!" he yelled, bringing his hand size to six. Zach smirked. "I use the effect of my Phantom Horse (ATK: 700)! If I control a face-up Ghost Warrior, I can special summon this card from my hand!" Seemingly from nowhere, a faintly glowing white horse leapt onto the field. It bore a violet saddle and silver face mask. "Now, I tune my level three Ghost Warrior to my level three Phantom Horse!" The white samurai suddenly turned into three green rings, while the white horse floated into the middle of the three rings. "In death, there is life and the road to salvation. Become my guide and illuminate the path to heaven! Synchro Summon! Strike him down, Phantom Paladin! (ATK: 2600)" A column of light shot through the three green rings. As the light dissipated, the new monster was revealed. It looked more like a Fusion monster than a Synchro. It was a samurai in bulky white armor, mounted on a glowing white steed with the same armor, wielding a long partisan spear.

"Not a bad monster," remarked David. "So what does it do?"

"You'll find out soon enough," said Zach. "But first, I summon my Brave Knight in attack mode (ATK: 1900)!" A knight in gleaming white and gold armor rose from the ground, slashing his gleaming broadsword once. The knight had an engraving of a lion outlined in royal blue on its chest.

"Now I attack your Skull Servants with both of my monsters!" Both monsters ran right through the two skeletons, causing them to crumble into dust. "When Phantom Paladin destroys a monster in battle, its effect kicks in!" Zach's Ghost Warrior slid out of his graveyard. "Now I can take a card from my graveyard and shuffle it back into my deck." He took the card and slid it into his deck, then watched as the deck shuffled itself. "I end my turn with that. Go ahead and use your Human-Wave Tactics."

"Nah," said David with a shrug. "I don't really feel like it." He drew a card from his deck, sneering as he did so. "This is where the duel ends. I summon King of Skull Servants in attack mode!" This time, a massive skeleton rose from the ground. This one had a thick, tattered, dark blue cloak surrounding it, and glowing red eyes. (ATK: ?/DEF: 0)

"What does that do?" asked Zach, taking a step back.

"Its attack points go up by 1000 for each Skull Servant in my graveyard, and I have three, so that's 3000 attack points. (ATK: ?→3000) And now I activate the equip spell Opti-Camouflage Armor! This card can only be equipped to a level one monster, but that monster gets a devastating power. It can attack directly!"

"That's not good," said Ryu.

"Zach, no!" Mina cried.

"I attack with King of Skull Servants!" cried David. From under the giant skeleton's massive cloak, a gust of wind surged toward Zach, knocking him off his feet and causing him to hit the floor hard. David laughed wildly. "You're in over your head kid! There's no way you could ever beat me, not in a million years! You might as well quit now!"

"Not a chance," said Zach as he stood up

Zach: 4000→1000

David frowned. "So you still have some fight left, do you?"

"Gimme a break," spat Zach. "A duel's not over until the last card is played!"

"Cocky runt," scoffed David. "Fine, I'll end my turn."

"Then it's my move. Draw!" cried Zach. He looked at his newly drawn card and smirked. "I play one card face down and switch my monsters into defense mode! Turn end."

_He must have set a card that can get rid of my King of Skull Servants_, thought David. "Whatever your face-down is, it won't work! Draw!" David sneered as he saw his draw. "I play The Lady in Wight, in defense mode! (ATK: 0/ DEF: 2200) When she's on the field, level 3 or lower Zombie type monsters are unaffected by my opponent's spell/trap cards and can't be destroyed in battle!"

Becca sighed. "Well, that's it. At this point, Zach's done."

"King of Skull Servants, attack directly for game!" cried David.

"Stop!" cried Zach. "I activate my face-down card!"

"That won't work! My King is unaffected by spells and traps, remember?"

"Then it's a good thing this card doesn't target your monster! I play my quick-play spell Sword Break! This card destroys one equip card on the field! Sorry, but this game's still on!"

David's eyes widened in shock as his Opti-Camouflage Armor shattered into thousands of pixels.

"Not only that," continued Zach, "but I can draw a card from my deck!" Zach drew, giving him three cards to work with. "Alright, continue your turn."

David growled. "So what?" he scoffed. "You're only delaying the inevitable. King of Skull Servants, attack his Phantom Paladin! Bone Crush!" The giant robed skeleton swung its massive boney arm, hitting the mounted paladin head on, causing it to explode.

"I end my turn. Now draw your pathetic card!" commanded David.

Zach took a deep breath and looked at his hand. He had a few options, but nothing that could take out his King of Skull Servants, not with The Lady in Wight in play. _C'mon deck_, he thought, _give me something I can use_. He smirked as he looked at his newly drawn card, playing it immediately. "I activate the spell card Reload! I return my hand to my deck, then draw three new cards!"

"Fine," spat David. "It won't help."

"Oh no?" retorted Zach. "We'll see about that!" He drew his three new cards, and couldn't help but smile. The three cards he just drew were exactly the combo he needed. "Okay, I'll start by activating the spell card, Share the Pain!"

"Share the Pain?" asked David, slightly surprised. "What does that do?"

"It's an old card," explained Zach, "One of the first spells in the game in fact. It forces both players to tribute one of their monsters!"

"And then what?" questioned David.

"Then nothing," responded Zach. "We each tribute a monster. That's it."

David scoffed. "What a joke. My King of Skull Servants is protected by my Lady in White, remember?"

"Oh I know all about your Lady in White," retorted Zach. "So I know that while she protects all of your level three or lower zombies, the same doesn't apply to her. Looks like your Lady is going to the graveyard!"

"Awesome, " cried Ryu. "Now his King can be taken down with spells and traps!"

David smirked. "You know all about her, do you? Well, then you also know her name is treated as Skull Servant while it's in the grave, so my King get 1000 more attack points. (ATK: 3000→4000) Not only that, but you have to tribute your Brave Knight as well."

"Believe me, I know. In fact, I'm counting on it," Zach said with a smirk, discarding the level four monster to the graveyard. "Now I'll summon someone who you might recognize! Go, the level three tuner, Ghost Warrior! (DEF: 800)"

David lifted an eyebrow as the spear-wielding samurai leapt onto the field, landing in a crouching position. "What good'll that do?" he questioned. "Even if you are able to summon another monster, there's no way you'll be able to come up with a Synchro strong enough to take down my King of Skull Servants."

"That's what you think!" said Zach, with bolstered confidence. "Now I tune my level three Ghost Warrior with the level three Phantom Horse and level four Brave Knight in my graveyard!"

This statement surprised the onlookers. "He's doing what?" exclaimed Becca.

"Hold on!" David protested. "You can't use monsters from the graveyard in a Synchro, and I know for a fact that Ghost Warrior doesn't have that effect!"

"Your right, he doesn't," said Zach matter-of-factly. "Now shut up and watch! I'm about to show you a new type of Synchro!"

"A new…type of Synchro?"

Faint images of Brave Knight and Phantom Horse appeared on Zach's field. The two images then turned into beacons of light which began to flow into Ghost Warrior. "The lone warrior unites with the souls of his fallen comrades to unleash a new power! Become my guide and illuminate the path to heaven!" Suddenly, Ghost Warrior was enveloped in a vertical pillar of multicolored light. "Reborn Synchro! The pillar of light, Valkyron the Slayer!" The rainbow light faded to reveal a creature unlike any of the spectators had ever seen. It was had an angelic presence, having a humanoid figure made up of clean, layered white armor. It had two glass eyes, one blue, one red, and its head seemed to form the shape of an arrowhead with a white spike jutting out on either side. From its back flowed six wings made of nothing but multicolored light. (ATK: 0)

"You must be joking," scoffed David. "A monster that can beat my King? With what? It doesn't have a single attack point."

"Maybe not right now," retorted Zach, "but it's got two effects. First, it can't be destroyed in battle."

_So then why is it in attack mode_, thought David. "And the second?"

"Whenever it attacks," Zach answered, "Its attack become equal to the attack of the monster it battles!"

"It does what?" muttered David in a stunned tone. The spectators were just as surprised.

"So then that means he can take down any attack position monster David throws at him," said Chase.

While the spectators of the duel were fairly impressed, both Becca and David knew that there was a big flaw in this plan. The realization caused David to form a smirk. "So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and attack."

"I'll get to that in a minute," said Zach with a cocky smirk. "But first, I'll play my last card, the equip spell Rainbow Sword and equip it to my Valkyron!" The hilt of a blade appeared in the grasp of the angelic figure made of the same white metal. From this hilt, a blade of Rainbow light extended, reaching to about six feet. David raised an eyebrow, noting that the monster's attack points didn't change.

"Valkyron, attack!" cried Zach, punching the air. "Rainbow Strike!" (ATK: 0→4000)The light of Valkyron's blade began to glow brighter, and he charged forward. Just before reaching King of Skull Servant's feet, the angelic figure leapt into the air and brought down the blade, cutting the monster in half and causing it to shatter.

"Oh, by the way, Valkyron has one more effect," stated Zach, surprising David. "When it destroys a monster in battle, you take damage equal to half the destroyed monster's attack!"

"Say what?" cried David. A gust of black wind hit David head on. The gust seemed to physically burn his skin, though this could not be seen.

David: 4000→2000

When the wind subsided, David couldn't help but sneer. He began to laugh wildly. "Nice try kid, but there's one thing you didn't count on. I activate King of Skull Servant's special effect!" A copy of Skull Servant slid out of David's graveyard. "When it's destroyed in battle, I can remove a copy of Skull Servant in my graveyard from play to special summon it from my graveyard! Be reborn, King of Skull Servants!" A giant skeletal hand clawed its way out of the ground. It pushed down to give the giant skeleton it was attached to enough leverage to slowly rise out of the ground. (ATK: 3000)

"Nice try kid," cackled David, "but I was the best duelist to come out of Pegasus Prep School! A low-life like you has absolutely no chance to beat me!"

"You're wrong."

The spectators were surprised with Zach's statement. "You still doubt my strength?" spat David. You really still think you can beat me?"

"Well, yes," said Zach, "but that's not what I meant. What you said before, about your King of Skull Servants."

"Yeah," said David, slightly confused. "What about it?"

"It's not that you 'can' revive it," continued Zach, "you have to. Its card text doesn't give you a choice."

"And this is relevant how?" asked David, raising an eyebrow. "You're still going to lose."

"We'll see," said Zach with a smirk. "Remember my equip spell, Rainbow Blade? Didn't it strike you as odd that it didn't cause my monster's attack points to increase? Well that's because it gives my Valkyron yet another effect. It allows him to attack all monsters on your side of the field once each."

David's heart sank, horrified at the implications Zach made. "No way," he whispered.

"I don't understand," said Mina. "Why's that so special?"

"Each time King of Skull Servants is revived," replied a stunned Becca, "it's treated as a new monster, which means Zach can attack it."

"Which also means Zach can destroy it and inflict damage equal to half its attack points," said Ryu with a smirk. "The best part is David can't stop his King from reviving, meaning—."

"—Meaning he can keep attacking and inflicting damage until David's life reaches zero!" finished Mina. "Way to go Zach!"

"Valkyron, attack!" roared Zach. "Rainbow Strike! (ATK: ?→3000)" The angelic figure swung in an arc, releasing a crescent of rainbow light that sliced through King of Skull Servants and hit David straight on.

David: 2000→500

David scoffed as a Skull Servant slid out of his graveyard and King of Skull Servants tried to claw its way out of the ground once more. (ATK: ?→2000) Its lower body hadn't even risen to the surface yet before Valkyron landed on the top of its head and drove the sword right into the middle of its skull. The skull slowly began to crack, and eventually exploded, taking the rest of the skeletal figure with it. The angelic figure leapt out of the explosion, skidding to a halt on Zach's field while David cried out in anger.

Zach: 1000

David: 500-0

"He did it," cried Mina, and the entire hall of the ship erupted with cheers and applause. They didn't care that Zach won, but they were so impressed by his comeback that they just couldn't help themselves.

"Nice one kiddo," said Ryu with a wide grin, as he grabbed Zach in a headlock and began to ruffle his already messy blonde hair. Becca, Chase, and Mina walked over to the two.

"Great job," said Becca. "Sorry I didn't have more faith in you."

At first, when Zach didn't respond, her heart began to sink. Then she noticed his face turn bright red and his attempts to escape the headlock becoming more frantic.

_Uh oh_, she thought. "Ryu, let go!"

"What?" asked Ryu in a somewhat mocking tone. "We're just having a little fun."

"RYU, seriously!" shouted Becca, as she and Chase tried to pry Ryu off of the squirming blonde duelist. While the rest of the new academy students went back to their seats and David stormed off in disgrace, two pairs of eyes still remained on the short, blonde haired duelist. One was a student, one wasn't.

"That card," muttered the student. She was an average height, slender girl with light blue eyes and long, waist length, rose-pink hair pulled back by an embroidered white and blue headband. "Do you think he's one of them?" she asked the man next to her.

"Not sure," said the man. His features were hidden by a brown trench coat with the collar popped and a brimmed hat. His only distinguishable features were his emerald green eyes. "If he is, we'll find out soon enough."

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you all enjoyed! Now, about the OC's. Obviously, I need their name, physical description, personality description, deck type, what year they are, and which dorm they're in. They cannot have any relation to any canon characters, but they can have some relation to any of the OC's used in this story. You do not have to include a backstory, but doing so would give me a better feel for you character. Finally, and I cannot stress this enough, they must have a GOOD, SOLID REASON for being in the dorm their in. This means no Slifer Reds with overpowered, tournament level decks, unless that character has a special reason for ending up there. <strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Card of the Chapter<strong>

**Valkyron the Slayer**

**LIGHT**

**Level: 10**

**ATK: 0/DEF: 0**

**Fairy/Synchro/Effect: **_**1 face-up LIGHT tuner + 2 or more non-tuner monsters in the graveyard.**_** This card can only be Synchro summoned by removing the above monsters from play. This card cannot be destroyed in battle. When this card selects your opponent's monster as an attack target, increase the ATK of this card by an amount equal to the attack of the targeted monster. When this card destroys your opponent's monster as a result of battle, inflict damage equal to half the attack of that monster to your opponent.**


	2. The Third Amigo

**Author's Note**

**Hey guys. It's me, back with another chapter. You've probably figured this out already, but this fanfic will include mass amounts of fan-made cards, especially from the main character and especially as the story progresses. You have been warned. With that, enjoy chapter two.**

Zach stood with his new friends, Mina, Ryu, Becca, and Chase, all of them looking off the deck of the boat. Zach could feel the cool breeze blow through his hair, as he took in the sunlight. Here he was. Duel Academy Island.

This sense of calm was disrupted by the loud horn of the boat, signaling that the boat was about to dock. _Here we go_, Zach thought to himself.

The tall, blonde woman stood in her office, looking out at the ocean when she heard the horn of the ship, signaling the arrival of not just the new students, but some of the older ones as well. This was it for her; there was no turning back now. Despite her calm and tranquil persona, she was incredibly nervous. She felt her chest tighten with worry as several thoughts ran through her head. She jumped when she heard a knock at the door.

"Y-yes," she stammered, pulling out a handkerchief and wiping the sweat off her brow. "Come in."

When the door slid open, a tall, frail looking man with long silver hair tied back into a pony tail carrying a long black cane stepped through into the office. The blonde woman smiled. "Hello, Chancellor Crowler."

"Hello yourself, my dear," the former Ancient Gear duelist replied. He had aged much over the years, though it did him good. He was much wiser now, unlike twenty-three years ago, when he first met Jaden Yuki. Time had humbled the man, as he no longer wore makeup, making his gender much less ambiguous. He had become much more tolerant of the lower ranking students, now believing in giving every student a chance to be the best they could be. Ironically, he found himself less tolerant with the freshman blues, who almost always walked in with a smug attitude that he had no patience for in his old age. "And please," Crowler continued, "I'm not the headmaster anymore. You are."

"Y-yeah," said the woman. "I just…don't know if I'm ready to be headmaster, you know?"

Crowler smiled. The woman before him was a former student, and while time had changed him greatly over the years, she had not changed at all. She was just as beautiful as ever, if not more so. She always carried a humble, modest, kind heart, and was actually one of the ones who taught the old man tolerance in the first place. "You'll do fine Alexis," he said to her reassuringly. "I know you. You were one of the best students I've ever had. I have no doubt in my mind that you will also be one of the best teachers this academy has ever had. After all," he said with his signature wide, almost creepy grin, "you learned from the best."

Alexis smiled back. Without Crowler's help, she would not have been where she ended up. "Thank you, Cha—doctor. Was there something you came here for?"

"Oh, yes," replied Crowler. He took the black name plaque on the desk. "I came to pick this up," he then reached into his back pocket, "and to give you this." Crowler pulled out a second black naming plaque from his long blue coat. Alexis took the plaque. On one side, it read 'Chan. Alexis Rhodes,' with the other side having the same thing written in Kanji.

As she gazed at the plaque, she was stunned. This was it. It was real. She was now officially the head of this school, the most prestigious dueling school in the world. She wrapped her arms around the frail old man.

"Thank you," she whispered, "for everything."

"Shh," he whispered back. "If you ever need me, I'll be here."

Alexis pulled away from her former teacher and smiled, wiping away the single tear that had welled up in her eye. "Well, I should go. I suppose I have a speech to give."

After Chancellor Rhodes gave the student body what they all thought was a rather inspiring speech, the students were all shunted into three lines based on their performance at the entrance exams. Zach, Ryu, and Mina had ended up in one line, while Becca and Chase had ended up in another. When Zach reached the front of the line, he was confronted by an older, rather bored looking boy, who seemed to be handing out uniforms. "Name?" asked the boy.

"Zach," the blonde said nervously, "Zach Weiler."

Without emotion, the older boy checked off a box on a list of paper in front of him. The boy was sitting at a table surrounded by several boxes. "Size?"

"Medium," replied Zach.

The boy looked in one of the boxes, then turned back to Zach. "No medium. Small okay?"

"Well, I—," before Zach could finish, the boy thrust a folded red blazer and a red-trimmed academy duel disk into his arms.

"You can go now," the boy said. "Next."

"Hold on," Zach protested, "don't I get a room assignment or something?"

The older boy sighed. "The Osiris Red dorm has no room numbers, and therefore no assignments. Osiris Red students are free to choose whatever room they wish to live in. Students are reminded that having two students of the opposite sex taking residence in the same room is prohibited by campus regulations and policies. Failure to adhere to such policies will result in a warning. Multiple warnings will result in termination from the academy. Next."

Slightly put off by the boy's monotonous tone as he gave this speech, Zach walked away with his blazer under his left arm. Ryu stepped up to the boy.

"Name?"

"Ryu," replied the black-haired boy. "Tamanaki Ryu."

The bored-looking boy looked up at Ryu, observing his height. "Oh boy," he groaned. "What size?"

"XL," Ryu replied.

The bored looking boy looked in one of the boxes. "Lucky you," said the boy, still with no emotion. He handed Ryu a duel disk and another bright red blazer, this one covered in plastic-wrap. "You get one of the new jackets. Next."

Ryu walked away to join Zach, who was now trying on his own blazer. Zach managed to get into it well enough, but it seemed very tight around the shoulders and the back didn't even reach his waist. Trying to get the thing closed was probably out of the question. Thinking maybe his friend would have better luck, Zach turned to Ryu. "How's yours fit?"

"Dunno," said Ryu, taking his own blazer out of the plastic wrap. When he unfolded the blazer, a feeling of envy hit Zach like a bullet. Unlike most of the other red or even yellow blazers, Ryu's formed something of a trench coat, as the back of the bright red blazer reached down all the way to Ryu's ankles.

"Not a bad fit," remarked Ryu, not bothering to button up the blazer "C'mon. Let's head to the dorm."

"Alright, this looks like a good room," said Zach. He and Ryu looked around. For everyone talking about how terrible the Reds got it, the room really wasn't that bad. Sure, it only had one desk, but the walls and door were all in pretty good shape, the lights worked, the triple bunk bed seemed intact, and they even had a stove and oven to cook. Except for a rather large coffee stain on the green carpeting that covered the floor, the room was perfectly fine.

Ryu, on the other hand, wasn't too sure. While Zach took in his surroundings, Ryu tapped on the wall with his knuckles to test the quality of the dry wall. As soon as he did, a large chunk of dried plaster fell on Zach, covering the blonde in white, chalky powder and forming a large bump on his head. Zach turned around and gave Ryu a dirty look. Ryu only responded with an apologetic shrug.

Just then, they heard hysterical laughter coming from the top bunk. "Wow, what a dumbass, hah!"

"I dare you to come out and say that to my face!" spat Zach, dusting the white powder from his hair."

"Whatever," said the voice. A boy in a red blazer leaped down from the bunk. To their surprise, the boy was even shorter than Zach. The boy had messy, aquatic blue hair, a red headband around his forehead to match the blazer, light brown eyes, and a mischievous smile. "You don't look so tough," said the blue-haired boy with a smirk. "So what's your name kid?"

"I should be the one asking you that," scoffed Zach, dusting the powder from his hair. "And it's Zach, Zach Weiler. Yours?"

"An American, huh?" scoffed the boy. "I don't have to answer to the likes of you."

"Excuse me?" growled Zach. He was just about ready to strangle the kid, and was about to if Ryu hadn't held him back.

"However," the kid began to say, "maybe we can work something out."

Zach began to calm down. "Like what?"

"How about this," responded the boy, "beat me in a duel, and I'll tell you my name."

"Sounds good," said Zach, freeing himself from Ryu's grasp. "And if I lose?"

"Well then," the boy started, once more putting on that mischievous grin of his, "you have to do all of my homework for the whole semester."

"That's ridiculous," scoffed Zach. "Why the hell would I agree to that?"

"Aw, what's wrong?" asked the blue-haired boy in a mocking tone. "Chicken?" He then proceeded to make a series of immature clucking noises. After about five minutes of this, Zach had finally had it.

"Alright, you cocky little runt!" growled Zach as he punched the wall, causing another slab of plaster to fall from the ceiling, this time falling on the clucking blue-haired boy.

_We have got to get that fixed_, thought Ryu, sweatdropping and looking up at the ceiling.

"I'll take you on!" Zach finished.

"Fine," growled the blue-haired boy, now just as riled up as Zach. "Let's do this!"

The two duelists stood outside, their red-trimmed academy duel disks ready while Ryu looked on. Each one held a fierce glare, staring the other down. _Aren't they getting just a little too into this_, Ryu thought.

"_Duel_," the both cried at once, each swiftly drawing five cards.

Zach: 4000

Boy: 4000

"I'll start off," cried the boy, drawing a sixth card. "I'll play one card face down and a monster in defense mode! Turn end."

"Then I draw!" cried Zach. He smiled when he looked at his draw. "By discarding one card from my hand, I can special summon Scorch Fighter in attack mode!" A wave of fire washed over the field. In a great blaze of glory, a man in bright red and gold armor with wings of pure fire erupted onto the field (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1300) "This card can only be summoned through its own effect, and when it's summoned, I can't normal summon this turn." Zach pointed to the horizontal card on the blue-haired boy's field. "Battle! Scorch Fighter, destroy his face-down monster!" The red and gold armored warrior was engulfed by a veil of fire. He charged forward, flipping up the face-down monster revealing it to be Wattdragonfly (ATK: 900/DEF: 100).

_A Watt monster_, thought Ryu. _Could he be running a Watt deck? If so, Zach might be in trouble. The question is, will this kid play the aggressive strategy, or try to stall?_

"Stop," cried the blue-haired boy. "I activate my trap!" but when he went to activate his card, nothing happened.

"Surprised?" asked Zach. "When Scorch Fighter attacks, you're not allowed to activate spell/traps until the end of the damage step!"

The blue-haired boy could only watch as the copper colored bug was incinerated before his very eyes.

"That's not all," Zach continued. "When Scorch Fighter destroys a monster in battle, you take 700 points of damage!" The blue-haired boy cried out as he was consumed by a pillar of fire.

Boy: 4000→3300

The boy growled. "When Wattdragonfly is destroyed, I'm allowed to summon one Watt monster form my deck! Come on out, Wattfox!" As the card slid out of the blue-haired boy's deck, he slapped it on the disk, causing a gold and black fox to rise out of the ground (ATK: 800/DEF: 100)

"Fine," said Zach. "Then I'll play one card face down and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn! Draw!" The kid smirked as he drew. "Now I activate the card I was planning on using earlier! Wattcannon!" The kid's face-down card flipped open. Once it did, the card disappeared and a colorful red, blue, and yellow cannon appeared on the field. It had a giant star where the barrel should have been.

"Next I summon Wattgiraffe in attack mode!" Next to the black and gold fox, a golden giraffe appeared, an electric current coursing through its whole body. (ATK: 1200/DEF: 200)

"Now Wattcannon's effect activates! When a Thunder type monster is summoned, you take 600 damage!"

"What?" The brightly colored cannon aimed itself at the blonde duelist, firing a bolt of lightning at him. Zach groaned in pain.

Zach: 4000→3400

"Now," began the blue-haired boy, "I tune my level two Wattfox to my level four Wattgiraffe!" The tiny black and gold fox leapt into the air, turning into two rings of green light. The giraffe then galloped into the middle of the two rings, becoming four orbs of light. "Synchro Summon! Wattchimera!" A beam of light shot through the two green rings. What was left was a blue and gold lion, with a red mane, the wings of a bat, and the tail of a snake. (ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200)

"Only 1400 attack?" asked Zach. "You went through all that trouble to bring out _that_?"

"Hey!" barked the blue-haired boy, "Don't mock my ace monster! I'll make you eat your words! Remember, when I summon a Thunder type monster, Wattcannon's effect activates! Wattcannon, fire!" The boy was surprised when the cannon didn't fire.

"What's wrong?" asked the boy, now in a panic. "Why isn't it working?"

Zach and Ryu sweatdropped. "You do know that Wattcannon only activates once a turn," said Ryu, "right?"

"Y-yeah," retorted the blue-haired boy, "of course I know that!" Slowly, the boy began to regain his composure. "Whatever. I can still attack! Go, Wattchimera!" The blue and gold chimera let out a bellowing roar.

"But Scorch Fighter's stronger than your chimera," protested Zach.

"Well, then it's a good thing I'm not attacking your monster," said the blue-haired with a smirk.

Electricity surged around the blue and gold beast. The electricity converged, forming into a single lightning bolt that whizzed past the flaming warrior and went straight for Zach. Zach cringed as the electricity flowed through his body.

Zach: 3400→2000

"That's my monster's effect," continued the blue haired boy. "It can attack directly. Not only that, but when it inflicts damage with a direct attack, I can pick a random card from you hand and place it on the top of your deck!"

Zach growled. "Before that takes effect, I activate my trap!" Zach's set card flipped over, revealing a pink-colored card with a picture of a man in leather armor surrounded by golden energy. "Fate's Repentance! When I take damage, I'm allowed to look at your hand. If you have a monster, I can send it to the graveyard and increase my life equal to that monster's attack! If not, I receive 1000 points of damage."

The blue haired boy scoffed as his entire hand was laid out before Zach. Two cards caught Zach's eye immediately. The first was Wattwoodpecker (ATK: 1000), the only monster in the kid's hand. The second was Messenger of Peace. Zach frowned when he saw that card. The blue haired boy smirked upon seeing Zach's reaction.

"What's wrong?" asked the blue-haired boy. "I have a monster, so what're you waiting for?"

Zach growled at the kid's smugness. "I send Wattwoodpecker to the graveyard!"

Zach: 2000→3000

Sliding the card into his graveyard, the boy replied, "and now Chimera's effect activates, forcing you to place one card on the top of your deck. I choose the one to the far left!"

Zach scoffed, sliding the card to the top of his deck.

"Finally," continued the blue-haired boy, "I activate Messenger of Peace! While this card is on the field, monsters with 1500 attack or more can't declare an attack! Turn end."

"Then it's my turn. Draw!" Zach looked at his hand. He wasn't too sure what he could do at this point, having just drawn a card that was already in his hand. He had nothing that could get rid of Messenger of Peace, and nothing that could destroy Wattchimera. Then a thought occurred to him. _Could that really work? Well there's only one way to find out._ "I summon Phantom Horse, in attack mode!" The luminescent white horse appeared on Zach's field, taking its place beside its master (ATK: 700/DEF: 900). "When this card is normal summoned successfully," continued Zach, "I'm allowed to summon one Ghost Warrior from my graveyard! Come on out, Ghost Warrior!" The white-armored, spear wielding samurai rose from the ground, taking its place next to Phantom Horse. (ATK: 1400/DEF: 800)

"When did that get in your graveyard?" cried the blue haired boy.

"Remember when I summoned Scorch Fighter earlier?" asked Zach. "Ghost Warrior was the monster I discarded. Battle! Ghost Warrior, attack his Wattchimera! Partisan Strike!" The white samurai charged forward with its spear. The chimera fired a bolt of lightning at the samurai, but it was too late. The warrior drove its spear into the beast's forehead, causing it to shatter into a thousand pixels.

Boy: 3300→2900

"Hold on!" the boy protested. "Why did I take damage?"

"Because of Ghost Warrior's effect," replied Zach, proud that his gamble had worked. "It gains 400 attack during the damage step. Not only that, but because it occurred after the attack was declared, Ghost Warrior was able to get around your spell!" The boy growled. "But I'm not done yet," continued Zach. "Phantom Horse, attack him directly!" The white horse charged forward, head-butting the smaller duelist and knocking him off his feet.

Boy: 2900→2200

"With that I end my turn," Zach finished.

The boy leapt back to his feet. "I won't go down so easily," he protested, proceeding to draw his card. "I pay 100 life points to keep Messenger of Peace on the field."

Boy: 2200→2100

"Now I use the spell card recycling batteries! This card lets me add up to two Thunder monsters with 1500 atk or less from my grave to my hand! I choose Wattgiraffe and Wattwoodpecker!" The two cards slid out of his graveyard and he placed them in his hand.

"Then I activate the spell card Lightning Vortex! I discard one card from my hand to destroy all monsters you control!" Zach smirked as a series of lightning bolt proceeded to bombard his field, causing all of his monsters to shatter.

"I use Scorch Fighter's effect," said Zach. "When it's destroyed by an effect and sent to the graveyard, I can summon one level 4 or lower monster from my deck!" Zach took out his deck and search through it. He found exactly the one he wanted. "I summon Brave Knight, in attack mode!" Once more, a pillar of flames erupted on Zach's field. This time, however, a warrior in white and gold armor wielding a gleaming broadsword appeared. (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1500)

The boy growled. "So what? I'm still not done! Now I summon Wattgiraffe in attack mode!" From the ground rose the golden giraffe, its neck crackling with electricity. (ATK: 1200) "And when it's summoned, Wattcannon activates, dealing 600 points of damage!"

Zach: 3000→2400

"Now, due to Wattgiraffe's effect, it can attack directly!" From its antlers, the giraffe launched a bolt of lightning at the blonde duelist. Zach cringed upon being hit.

Zach: 2400→1200

"End turn," cried the blue-haired boy.

Zach looked at the field. Things didn't look good. Brave Knight could normally destroy Wattgiraffe without much trouble, but with Messenger of Peace on the field, Brave Knight wouldn't get that chance. What's worse, if Wattgiraffe made another direct attack, Zach would lose. _C'mon deck_, Zach prayed;_ give me something I can work with_. Zach drew his card and looked at it. _Perfect_.

"I activate the spell card Lightwave Tuning!" A greenish aura began to emanate off of the white and gold warrior. "Until the end of this turn, one level 4 LIGHT monster I control is treated as a tuner monster, and luckily for me, Brave Knight fits the requirements! Now I tune my level 4 Brave Knight on the field with the level 3 Phantom Horse and level 3 Scorch fighter in my graveyard!"

"Hold on," protested the blue-haired boy, "you can't use monsters from the grave as Synchro material! That's cheating!"

"Normally, maybe," responded Zach, "but this isn't an ordinary Synchro!" Faint images of the white horse and flaming warrior appeared on Zach's field. The images turned into two beams of light, which began to flow into Brave Knight. "The lone warrior unites with the souls of his fallen comrades to unleash a new power! Become my guide and illuminate the path to heaven! Reborn Synchro! The pillar of light, Valkyron the Slayer!" In a flash of light, Brave Warrior disappeared to be replaced by the armored, white, angelic figure, tiny specs of light falling from its six multicolored wings. (ATK: 0/DEF: 0)

"Now," continued Zach, "I activate the equip spell Nitro Unit, equipping it to your giraffe!" Suddenly, a large block of dynamite latched on to the golden giraffe. "Go, Valkyron, attack! Rainbow Strike!" Multicolored light began to generate in the angelic being's palms. It charged straight at the giraffe. "And when it attacks, it gets attack equal to that of its target!" (ATK: 0→1200)

"But they'll both be destroyed," cried the blue-haired boy in protest.

"Not Valkyron," replied Zach with a smirk. "He can't be destroyed in battle! Not only that, when he destroys a monster in battle, you take damage equal to the destroyed monster's attack!" Valkyron swung at the giraffe with one of its glowing palms, hitting it, causing the animal to shatter into thousands of pixels. The blue-haired boy cried out as he was hit by the electricity of his own monster.

Boy: 2100→1500

"Now Nitro Unit's effect activates!" cried Zach. "When the monster equipped with it's destroyed, you take damage equal to that monster's attack!" Another bolt of lightning hit the blue haired boy, causing him to cry out.

Boy: 1500→300

"Finally, I'll play one card face down and end my turn," said Zach, using the last card in his hand. "Your move."

The blue-haired boy growled. "You think you've won? I'll show you! Draw!" he cried. "I pay 100 life points to keep Messenger of Peace on the field!"

Boy: 300→200

"Next, I summon Wattwoodpecker in attack mode!" From the ground, a black and white bird with a large red beak that crackled with electricity appeared on the field. (ATK: 1000) "Your monster may be strong, and maybe it can't be destroyed, but if I attack it, you'll still take damage! Not only that, but Wattwoodpecker can attack twice!" Zach frowned, and the blue-haired boy continued. "Wattwoodpecker, attack his monster! End this!" The bird charged forward.

"I play my trap!" declared Zach. "Dimension Wall! When I would take damage from a battle, you take that damage instead!" The bird flew into a swirling pool of blue energy. Before the blue-haired boy could react, a second pool of energy opened up in front of him. The bird flew out and hit the boy right in the gut.

Boy: 200→0

The blue-haired boy reeled back. "I lost," the boy muttered. When he looked up, he saw Zach right in front of him, offering his hand.

"Good duel," said the blonde duelist with a smile. "Now, I believe we had a deal."

The blue haired boy smiled back, nodded, and took the hand. "Of course. The name's Daichi, Ikeda Daichi."

"There you guys are," the three duelists heard. They turned to see Mina there, standing in her rather skimpy Osiris Red uniform. Both Zach and Daichi blushed at the appearance of the small brunette.

"Hey, Mina," said Ryu. "You missed a pretty good duel."

"Oh darn," grumbled Mina, stomping her foot and making a pouty face, which both Zach and Daichi thought was the most adorable thing they'd ever seen. "Oh well," she said, "There'll be plenty more. So did you two pick out a good room for the three of us?"

Zach and Ryu gave her a bizarre look. "Mina," said Zach, "You do know that girls and guys can't room together, right?"

Judging by her reaction, she did not know this. "Oh, but why not," she pouted. "What are they afraid of?"

_Is that a serious question?_ wondered Zach. Before he could answer, the blue-haired boy butted in. "It's okay, you can stay in my room," he exclaimed.

"Really?" exclaimed Mina, cheerfully. "Thank you, you're so nice!" She turned and looked at Zach with a pouty face. "Unlike some people."

"H-hey," protested Zach, but before he could do anything, Daichi already had his arm over her shoulder and was walking her back to the room. Daichi turned around and gave Zach a mischievous smile.

"That kid," growled Zach, chasing after them.

Ryu just laughed as he watched the spectacle. _This is gonna be a fun semester_, he thought.

Unbeknownst to them, a pair of eyes was watching the four red students from the tree tops. It was the same pair of emerald green eyes that had been watching them on the ship. "Unimpressive," said the voice behind the eyes. "This is no good. I need him to duel stronger opponents." The man sighed, and leapt down from the tree. "Maybe it's time I forced the hand of fate a little."

**That concludes chapter two. Hope you all liked it. Oh, one quick note about the OC's. When you submit them, you must give me his/her favorite cards or the ones he/she uses most often. This mainly helps me write the duels, it doesn't have to mean that he/she has a special bond with those cards. Thanks again, and I'll see you all again next week :)**

**Wattchimera**

**LIGHT**

**Level: 6**

**ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200**

**Thunder/Synchro/Effect: **_**1 Watt Tuner + 1 or more non-tuner Thunder-type monsters**_**. This card can attack your opponent directly. When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent by a direct attack, place 1 random card from your opponent's hand on top of their Deck.**


	3. Might of the Dragons

**Author's Note**

**Hey guys, sorry this chapter took so long. Unlike the previous two, I had to write this one pretty much from scratch, as I had to add in some thing that were missing from before, and had to change Zach's oppenent's deck completely. That said, I think it turned out really well. Hope you all enjoy!**

"You should have seen it," said Becca, "this kid managed to beat _David_ of all people." Becca stared at her brother, waiting for his reaction. Becca's older brother, Neil, was a tall blonde, just like his sister. His spiked blonde hair seemed to shoot backward, like he had been through a wind tunnel, with a blonde lock on each side of his head that hung down and was bound by a single violet bead. He had a pair of deep violet eyes that seemed to pierce one's soul.

But like always, Becca could barely get a rise out of the third-year Obelisk. She sighed. "You know, you could show a little interest when I'm talking to you."

"Who said I'm not interested," Neil responded, placing his coffee on the table. He leaned back in his chair. Neil was no stranger to Becca's friends. He knew she usually hung out with Chase and, therefore, knew all about David. "David is nowhere near Pro level. Still, to get beaten by an unknown," Neil continued. "I might just have to duel this kid."

"Now that's not fair," said Becca with a light smile. "A Red up against a third year Blue, one who's already received an offer into the pro league? Talk about one-sided."

"You may have a point, though you can't blame me for being curious," Neil replied. "There's always a chance that David's loss was a fluke." The third-year Obelisk finished the last of his coffee and stood up to leave. "Oh well, I have other things to concern myself with." He offered his hand to his sister. "Want me to walk you to your room?"

* * *

><p>Zach looked at the folded piece of paper in his hand. "Let's see, room 228…" His class had to be around here somewhere. As he walked down the hall, he noticed a familiar face standing by the door to the room. Zach smiled and called, "Hey, Chase!" The taller, lighter blonde looked to see his shorter friend jogging towards him. Zach had expected to find Chase wearing a yellow jacket since they got off the boat. To his surprise though, the platinum blonde was wearing a long, dark blue blazer.<p>

"Oh, hey Zach," said Chase, pleasantly surprised to see his new friend. "Deck Construction 103?"

"Yeah," nodded Zach. "I'm glad someone I know is in this class. C'mon, let's find a seat."

The two blondes walked into the lecture hall and took seats next to one another. The room was fairly empty at first, but soon filled up after some minutes passed. "So Chase," Zach started, "I didn't know you got into Obelisk. Hell, I didn't even see you at the entrance exams, now that I think of it. Your family must be pretty connected, huh?"

"Well, yea, I suppose so," said Chase timidly. "Have you ever heard of Baker-Stranhoff?"

"The big banking firm?" asked Zach. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Well," Chase chuckled. "Erik Stranhoff is my father." Zach's eyes grew big. The cofounder of a big banking firm? He assumed Chase's family was loaded but not that loaded.

"Anyone sitting here?" said a voice. Zach and Chase turned to see a pretty, slender girl standing before them with very long rose-pink hair pulled back with an embroidered blue hair band. She had a sweet smile and wore a long sleeved shirt with frilled cuffs under her standard uniform (which was a stark contrast to the rest of the girls, who wore their rather revealing uniforms as is).

Zach noticed Chase's cheeks flare up slightly when the girl spoke. On the other hand, Zach noticed they tended to flare up when he got any sort of direct attention. "No, not at all," Zach responded.

"Great," said the girl. To Zach, she didn't seem like a lot of the other girls at the academy. She seemed calmer than the others, more mature. The word 'serene' came to mind. "My name's Emma, by the way."

"Zach," he said. "This is my friend Chase. Sorry if he's a little on the shy side." As Zach said this, Chase waved at Emma bashfully.

"It's fine," she responded. "So Zach, I saw your duel on the boat. An Osiris Red beating the number one freshman Obelisk Blue? You must be pretty good."

"Well, yeah, I guess so," replied Zach. He leaned back in his seat. "You know, I really should have been in Ra Yellow. I don't mean to sound smug, but I don't belong in the Red dorm."

"So then why are you?" asked Emma, with peaked curiosity.

Zach's face reddened, the memories of that humiliating moment reentering his mind. "T-that's not important. The point is that unless you go to an expensive private school, it's impossible to get into Obelisk Blue as a freshman. I'm only a Red because of a technicality. No offense to you or Chase, but just because you're rich doesn't mean you're good."

The two blues were surprised by this statement. Chase looked around nervously, seeing a couple of Ra Yellows who had been listening in nodding to themselves. Fortunately, it didn't look like any other blues had heard.

"Be careful who you say that around," Emma warned. "I don't really care, and it looks like your friend doesn't either, but those are fighting words to a lot of people. You don't want to get into trouble in your first couple weeks."

"Yeah," said Zach with a sigh. "You're probably right. Still, it's a little annoying that everyone's so surprised that I beat that guy. I mean, his deck wasn't even that good."

This statement caused Chase to sit up abruptly, startling Zach and Emma. Before, Chase could get a word out, the professor walked in.

"Hello everyone," said a young, cheerful looking man with full auburn hair and sea green eyes. "My name is Dr. Matthew Parker. Welcome to deck construction 103! I hope we can all have some fun this semester. I'm currently passing out the syllabus..."

* * *

><p>"<em>Now, I tune my level three Ghost Warrior to my level three Phantom Horse! In death, there is life and the road to salvation. Become my guide and illuminate the path to heaven! Synchro Summon! Strike him down, Phantom Paladin!<em>"

Neil leaned back on the couch in his room, watching the footage from Zach and David's duel on his wide-screen.

_Why am I so interested in this kid?_ he thought. He grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. Dropping the remote on the sofa, he walked toward his bed. Before he could lay down, there was a knock on the door.

When Neil opened the door, no one was there. All there was was a package with no return address, only his name. Neil picked up the box and opened it, revealing the contents to be a tape recorder and a single tape.

Neil raised an eyebrow. _People still use these things?_ He walked back to the couch and placed the tape in the recorder. He pressed play and listened.

"_I saw your duel on the boat. An Osiris Red beating the number one freshman Obelisk Blue? You must be pretty good._"

"_Well, yeah, I guess so. You know, I really should have been in Ra Yellow…I don't belong in the Red dorm._"

Neil's eyes widened. Was that that Zach kid talking? He listened closely.

"_So then why aren't you?_"

"_T-that's not important. The point is that unless you go to an expensive private school, it's impossible to get into Obelisk Blue as a freshman. I'm only a Red because of a technicality…just because you're rich doesn't mean you're good._"

This statement at first surprised Neil. Surprise then turned into anger. Neil gripped the recorder so hard his knuckles turned white.

"_Be careful who you say that around. I don't really care, and it looks like your friend doesn't either, but those are fighting words to a lot of people. You don't want to get into trouble in your first couple weeks._"

"_Yeah you're probably right. Still, it's a little annoying that everyone's so surprised that I beat that guy. I mean, his deck wasn't even that good._"

Neil didn't listen to any more. He didn't need to. He dropped the recorder and crushed it beneath his feet before grabbing his white and blue Obelisk Elite coat and storming out.

* * *

><p>Ryu lay back on his bed with his new book. Daichi was passed out on his own bunk, while Zach was at the desk on his laptop with his headphones in. Suddenly, Ryu was startled by a loud banging at the door. Closing his book, he looked at his two roommates. Daichi was still fast asleep, while Zach was still absorbed in whatever was on his laptop. Once more, there was a loud banging.<p>

"God forbid someone else might answer the door," grumbled Ryu. Groaning, he got up from his bunk and went to the door. He was very surprised to see Becca's older brother standing there, not looking particularly happy.

"Neil? What…?" was all Ryu could get out before the tall blonde shoved him aside. His violet eyes burned with rage as he stormed over to the shorter blonde, yanking Zach's headphones out and grabbing him by the collar.

"You beat one Blue, and you think you're some hotshot?" bellowed Neil.

Zach honestly didn't know how to react. He just blinked and said, "What are you—,"

"'Just because you're rich doesn't mean you're good.' Isn't that what you said!" Neil roared.

Neil's screaming had finally woken up Daichi. "What's going on?" the blue-haired boy said wearily.

Ryu was horrified. He felt like there was a hole in his stomach. Because Ryu hung out with Becca a lot, he had met Neil on more than one occasion. Ryu really didn't know much about Neil, but he did know two things: One, Neil was a very good duelist, much better than David. Two, Neil was not someone to have on your bad side. Both of these came from personal experience.

"You, me, in the courtyard, half an hour," Neil bellowed, shoving Zach away and storming out.

Ryu shot a look at a speechless Zach. "What the hell did you do?"

* * *

><p>Zach and Neil stood 30 feet apart. A crowd had gathered around the two, anticipating a duel between them.<p>

"What's all that about?" asked Becca when she and Chase stumbled upon the crowd. The two worked their way inside until they found Ryu, Daichi, and Mina standing close to the middle. They then saw Zach and Neil standing across from each other, duel disks ready.

"Neil?" asked Becca is astonishment. "What are you doing?"

"Stay out of this Becca," said the violet-eyed duelist without even looking at her. "I'll make this kid eat his words."

"Look," Zach pleaded, "I don't know what you think you know, but this is a big misunderstanding."

"The time to talk is over," growled Neil, drawing five cards from his deck. "The first turn's yours."

Neil: 4000

"I guess I don't have a choice," Zach sighed, drawing six cards.

Zach: 4000

Zach looked at his hand. "I play a monster in defense mode!" A horizontal card appeared on Zach's field. "Next, I play one card face down and end my turn."

"Then its my move," declared Neil. "Draw!" Without changing his expression, he plucked a card from his hand and slapped it on his duel disk. "I summon Vanguard of the Dragon, in attack mode!" A dark blue, humanoid looking dragon appeared on the field, wielding a metal spear and a small shield. It looked a Zach and growled at his viciously. (ATK:1700/DEF:1300) "Next, I use its effect!" Neil roared. "I discard two Dragons from my hand, and for each one, my Vanguard gets 300 ATK points!" A crimson aura surrounded the dragon as it grew in size and let out a bellowing roar. (ATK: 1700→2300)

"Battle!" Neil cried. "Vanguard, attack his facedown monster! Spear crush!" With alarming speed, the blue dragon rushed forward, its spear ready.

"Flip summon!" Zach cried. "Pyre Soldier!" From nowhere, a man in red an gold body armor appeared, with several dynamite sticks strapped to his leg. (ATK:300/DEF:500) "When this card is flipped face-up, you take a thousand points of damage!" The man lit one of the sticks of dynamite and hurled it at Neil. Though the dynamite exploded right in front of his face, the tall blonde didn't even flinch.

Neil: 4000→3000

"Is that all?" scoffed Neil. When Zach didn't respond, Neil knew the answer. "Pathetic. Vanguard, continue your attack!" Once again, the blue spear-weilding dragon dashed forward, driving its spear into Pyre Soldier, causing its image to shatter. It was at this point that more people gathered around to watch the duel.

"Hey, isn't that the kid who beat David?"

"Why is he dueling Neil?"

"Maybe he thinks that by beating one blue, he can beat another."

"That kid has some balls."

"Look. That's kid's actually winning."

Daichi looked around at the whispering crowd. _Man, Zach's got some reputation_, he thought.

"Ryu," Becca began to ask, "What exactly happened between Zach and my brother?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," the black-haired boy replied. "All I know is that Neil came to our room banging on the door and then this happens." Ryu put his hand to his face. "What a mess."

"It's my move," Zach cried, drawing his card. He scowled when he looked at his draw. _You've got to be kidding me. I really can't beat his Vanguard?_ "I set another monster in defense mode!" Another image of a horizontal duel monsters card appeared on Zach's field. "Turn end."

"So all you can do is defend?" spat Neil. "You may talk big, but you're just another slacker." He drew his card and looked at it briefly before placing it in his hand. "I summon Lightning Wyvern in attack mode!" Next to the humanoid dragon, an electric blue, serpent-like dragon with nimble wings appeared. (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1400) "Now I use Lightning Wyvern's effect! By tributing it, I can summon this card from my graveyard..." As the slim blue dragon vanished in a pillar of golden light, a card slid out of Neil's graveyard. "My ace monster, Lightning Storm Dragon!" A loud crack was heard and a blinding light flooded the field, causing Zach and the other students to cover their eyes. When they were finally able to open them, Zach saw a massive electric blue dragon with burning red eyes, a long tail and neck, and wings crackling with electricity hovering behind Neil. (ATK: 2900/DEF: 2400)

"Oh this can't end well," muttered Zach.

"Now, I attack your facedown with Vanguard of the Dragon!" Neil thrust his hand forward. "Go, Vanguard! Spear Crush!" As Neil's Vanguard rushed towards the face-down card, the card disappeared and in its place, a light blue dragon with a long neck and clubbed head appeared on Zach's field, its wings attempting to shield itself. (ATK: 1300/DEF: 2000) Neil's dragon wasted no time in skewering its foe, causing it to shatter.

Zach growled at the loss of his dragon. "The card you destroyed was my Frost Dragon!" Zach cried. "Since you attacked it, you activated its flip effect, letting me add one Ember Dragon to my hand!" A card slid out of Zach's deck. Zach quickly grabbed it, showing the card to his opponent, revealing what looked to be a red colored version of the monster he just lost. (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1200)

"That won't do you any good!" Neil roared. "Lightning Storm Dragon, direct attack!" The massive blue dragon reared its head and unleashed a blast of blue electricity, striking Zach head on. The shorter blonde cried out in agony as he felt the dragon's electricity course through his whole body.

Zach: 4000→1100

The short blonde collapsed to one knee, breathing heavily. He looked up and stared Neil straight in the eye. _What the hell was that just now_?

"Pitiful" scoffed Neil. "Like a dog bowing before its master. Where's all that fire from when you dueled David? Where's that attitude from when you mocked blues for going to a private school?"

"Zach did what?" asked Becca, astonished.

"Is that why this guy's so mad at him?" Mina asked.

Neil spat. "You're just a coward, a lowly duelist who can't back up his words. 'Red because of a technicality.' Please. You're a bottom-feeder, and belong with the rest of the bottom-feeders." Neil plucked one of the three cards from his hand. "I'll set one card and end my turn."

"My turn then!" cried Zach, picking himself up. "Draw!" He looked at his freshly drawn card and smirked. _Yes! _"I summon Shotgun Warrior, in attack mode!" A man in blue and silver, futuristic looking body armor leaped onto the field. The man had a matching shotgun that looked like a weapon from a sci-fi game. (ATK: 1200/DEF: 1400) "And this card has a special effect! When it attacks a monster with 2000 or more ATK points, I can discard a card to destroy that monster, without applying damage calculation!"

"Yes!" cried Ryu, pumping his fist. "Nice one Zach!"

"Shotgun Warrior!" Zach cried, "Attack his Lightning Storm Dragon!" The armored man dashed forward, headed straight toward the large blue dragon.

"Trap card!" Neil roared. "Thundering Roar!" Neil's face-down revealed itself, its illustration of one Giga Gagagigo unleashing a roar that seemed to shatter the earth around it. "When my monster is selected as an attack target, I can change the target to another monster on my field!" Shotgun Warrior stopped its charge as Neil's Vanguard unleashed a deafening roar. "In addition, the attacking monster loses 1000 ATK points." (ATK: 1200→200)

"Doesn't matter, 'cause now you're Vanguard gets destroyed instead!" Zach cried, sliding his Ember Dragon (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1200) into his graveyard. Meanwhile, Shotgun Warrior rolled forward, landing just in front of the spear wielding dragon. The armored man pointed his shotgun right at the dragon's face and pulled the trigger, blowing the creature's head of and causing it to shatter.

"Unfortunately, it _does_ matter," Neil shot back, "because when Vanguard of the Dragon is destroyed by my opponent's card effect, it allows me to summon one dragon type normal monster from my graveyard." As he said this, Neil's hand began to crackle with electricity and a card slid out of his graveyard. "Come, my second Lightning Storm Dragon!" The ground behind Neil erupted, and a second electric blue dragon with fierce red eyes appeared right next to the first. (ATK: 2900/DEF: 2400)

Zach scoffed. He was now thoroughly screwed. One of those things was bad enough, but he had nothing in his hand that could handle two. He did, however, have one card in his hand that could hopefully turn things around. "I activate the spell card Reload!" Zach cried. "With this, I can return my hand to my deck and draw the same number of cards!" Zach returned his three remaining cards to his deck. His duel disk whirred as it automatically shuffled his deck for him. "C'mon deck," Zach whispered, placing his two forefingers on the top of his deck and closing his eyes, "gimme something to work with." As he drew, everyone fell silent. The tension in the air was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. Zach slowly drew his three cards and opened his eyes. "I set one card and end my turn!"

"Looks like Zach is still in this," said Mina, breathing a sigh of releif.

"Then its my turn," declared Neil, "Draw!" Neil looked at his card, then back to Zach. "This is where the duel ends. I activate the spell card Rolling Thunder!" A large copy of Neil's spell card appeared on his feild, revealing a picture of what looked like three Lightning Storm Dragons dancing among the black clouds in the background. "This card's effect changes depending on the number of Lightning Storm Dragon's I have out. Currently, I have two, so now I can summon my third from my deck!"

"No way..." whispered Daichi in disbelief.

"He managed to assemble all three," Becca muttered in astonishment.

"Behold!" Neil roared. "My final Lightning Storm Dragon!" Black cloud formed overhead, electricity coursing through them as Neil's final dragon descended unto the playing field, joining the other two. As Zach looked at the three dragons, a bead of sweat ran down his cheek. He could feel the air getting warmer and more humid. Then a sensation that horrified him occurred. He could feel a tingle, the hair standing up on the back of his neck.

"This isn't good," said Becca. "Neil's power is starting to come out."

"Power?" asked Mina. "What kind of power?"

"Ever since I can remember," explained Becca, "other kids have always feared my brother. Some of it's his aggressive nature, but that's not the whole of it. When he gets angry during a duel, something changes that causes his cards to inflict real damage. Whatever Zach said must have said to set him off, it got him worked up enough to bring out this power."

"No way," said Mina in disbelief. "That's not really true, is it?"

"Yeah, it's true," said Ryu. Mina instantly turned her gaze to the black-haired boy. "I experienced it first-hand. A few years ago, Becca and I got into a big argument, one that we both got emotional over. Being the protective big brother, Neil stepped in and challenged me to a duel. Still heated over the incident, I accepted. I got lucky. Becca managed to calm Neil down before I suffered any real injury." Ryu sighed and clenched his fist. "Zach…might not be so lucky."

"I can't watch," said Chase, turning away.

Mina, on the other hand, couldn't take her eyes off the duel. "Zach…"

"Now my dragons," Neil roared, "Let's end this! Destroy his Shotgun Warrior, and the rest of his life points!" All three of Neil's dragons unleashed a blast of lightning that seemed to converge on the lone Shotgun Warrior.

"Absolutely not!" Zach shouted. "Trap card, Radiant Mirror Force!"

"Shit!" spat Neil. The three blasts of lightning collided with a wall of light.

"When you declare an attack and you have three or more attack position monsters, I can destroy them all!" The lightning rebounded off the wall of light, striking all three dragons. They each let out a cry of pain before shattering into dust.

"No..." muttered Neil in astonishment. "No!" he cried. "You think you can destroy my dragon's so easily? I'll show you!" Neil pressed a button on his duel disk. "Quickplay spell, Time Reversal!"

"Time what?" asked Zach, but before he could get an answer, all three of Neil's dragons faded back into existence.

"When all of my monsters are destroyed in the same turn, I can bring them all back, and this time, you don't have your trap card to stop them!" Neil roared. "Now lets try this again. Lightning Storm Dragons, finish this!" Once again, all three dragons unleashed a beam of lightning at the lone Shotgun Warrior.

"I play my second trap!" Zach cried. "Tag out! When a level 4 or lower monster is selected as an attack target, I can summon a monster of equal level from my hand in its place! Come, Voltic Dragon, in defense mode!" Another winged dragon with a clubbed head and long neck appeared on the field, this one a golden yellow. (ATK:1800/DEF:500)It cried in pain as one of the beams of lightning sliced it clean in half.

"It's hopeless!" Neil shouted. "Lightning Storm Dragon's, finish this!"

"Eva, the Angel of Mercy, come to my aid!" Zach cried, slapping a monster card onto the field. A beautiful woman in white silk with long golden hair and bright blue eyes appeared before him. It had two feathered wings on its back, one white and one black. (ATK: 350/DEF: 1750) "When you declare a direct attack, I can special summon her from my hand! Not only that, but if the attacking monster has an ATK value greater than her DEF, I gain life points equal to your monster's attack points!"

Zach: 1100→4000

_He escaped defeat again?_ thought Neil in a furious rage. "You think that can save you?" Neil bellowed. "Think again! Lightning Storm Dragon, incinerate his pathetic monster!" The dragon to Neil's right side fired a stream of electricity from its maw. The stream collided with the woman, erasing it from existence and charring the grass to either side of Zach in the shape of a cone. Zach looked at the charred land around him and sheer horror struck him at the thought of what was about to come next.

"Now, my third dragon," Neil cried, "Unleash your fury on my opponent! Attack him directly!" Neil's final dragon reared its head and fired a beam of lightning a the short blonde. With nothing standing in its way, it hit the blonde duelist head on, sending volts of electricity surging through his body. Zach howled in pain as his body convulsed, every fiber of his being feeling like it was on fire.

"ZACH, NO!" Mina cried.

Zach: 4000→1100

When the attack finally subsided, Zach was lying on the ground, the ground around him charred black, burn marks all across his body. As the blonde duelist struggled to get up, his friend rushed toward him. Ryu and Mina each got under one of Zach's arms and attempted to pick him up.

"Leave him," Neil commanded. "The duel's not over."

"This is no duel," Mina spat, tears welling up in eyes filled with hate. "It's a beating. Haven't you proven your point?"

"It's…alright Mina," said Zach weakly, shrugging her and Ryu off. "You know, I…am so sick…of people acting like…like I'm some loser." He stood up slowly. Zach looked at Neil straight in the eye as he panted heavily. "I'm…a bottom-feeder…huh? Then, allow me…to prove you wrong." He looked at the lone card in his hand: Shotgun Warrior. It could take out one dragon, sure, but he would then be at the mercy of Neil's other two. No, there was only one card that could salvage this duel. Zach took a deep breath and drew his card. His heart nearly skipped a beat when he saw his card. "Spell card, Deal with the Reaper!"

"Deal…with the Reaper?" asked Neil. He had never heard of this card.

"Don't recognize it…do you?" said Zach, still panting heavily. He took a big gulp. "I'm not surprised. This is a unique card…a one of a kind…that I won at a tournament a while back."

"Won…at a tournament?"

"That's right," said Zach with a smirk. "I won a tournament. I bet you're wondering…how a bottom-feeder like me could win an official tournament…right?" Neil frowned. "Let me explain something to you, Neil. I received a 92% on my written entrance exam. I was beating my test opponent 3800 to 400 when my disk broke down. Yes, I shouldn't have looked down on the blues who went to private school, who have probably paid a lot of money and worked really hard for a good education." Zach stood straight up. The pain and fatigue were gone. In their place were anger and confidence. "But don't you dare look down on me because of something as stupid as the color of my jacket!"

There was a stunned silence, not just from Neil, but from the spectators as well. Zach chuckled. "Now where was I?" Zach looked at the spell he just played. "Ah yes, Deal with the Reaper. See, this card requires I give up all but 100 life points, but in exchange, I get to draw from my deck until I have six cards in my hand."

Neil's eyes widened. "You get to replenish your entire hand?"

"That's exactly right!" Zach cried, drawing four new cards from his deck. One card in particular caught his eye and he immediately played it. "I activate another spell card, Soul Trade! With this, I can discard any number of cards from my hand. Then, I get to select the same number of monsters from my graveyard and add them to my hand! So now, I discard three cards to add Frost Dragon, Ember Dragon, and Voltic Dragon back to my hand! Welcome back guys!" said Zach as he plucked the three dragons from his graveyard.

"Next," cried Zach, "I activate the spell card Polymerization! So now, I can fuse My Frost Dragon, Ember Dragon, and Voltic Dragon together to summon this! Come on out, Tri-Force Dragon!" Images of all three dragons appeared on the field, but they didn't stick around for long. So all three were pulled into a swirling purple vortex. What stepped out of the vortex was a massive dragon with crimson scales, an off-white underbelly and massive crimson wings. The dragon had three different colored heads, each with a clubbed shape and a long neck. The middle head was a deep red, like the rest of the dragon. The leftmost head was a light blue, while the rightmost head was a golden yellow. (ATK:3600/DEF:2800) "While Valkyron is probably my favorite monster," said Zach with a triumphant look in his eyes, "This is definitely my strongest! See, he can attack all monsters on your side of the feild once each!"

Neil took a step back. "It can take out all three of my dragons in a single turn..."

Zach then slapped the final card in his hand onto his duel disk. "Finally, I'll summon this guy, and let me tell you, he's just itching to get back at you. Welcome back, Shotgun Warrior!" The silver and blue armored man leaped onto the feild, whipping his shotgun out in the process. "Once my dragon clears the field of yours, there'll be nothing more between him and the rest of your lifepoints."

"...No..." muttered Neil in disbeleif.

"Now, Tri-Force Dragon, it's time to end this! Attack!" Zach roared. "Tri-Force Blast!" Each head of the dragon let loose a blast of energy corresponding in color to the color of its head. The three blasts converged, merging into a single wave of multicolored light. The wave of light surged forward, consuming each of Neil's Lightning Storm Dragons. When the wave of light faded, there was nothing left on Neil's feild, only the violet-eyed blonde with a shocked look on his face.

Neil: 3000→900

"Shotgun Warrior," Zach shouted, "your all clear! End this duel!" In an instant, the futuristic looking man was right in front of Neil. He raised his gun and hit Neil hard in the face with the butt end of the gun.

Neil: 900→0

"I…lost," said a stunned Neil, who collapsed to his knees as the duel images faded. "How did I lose…to a freshman…to a Red…"

Zach began to breathe heavily. He felt a feeling of pride he'd never felt before well up inside him. He growled and clenched his fist tightly "Listen up!" shouted Zach, lifting his fist in the air. "My name is Zach Weiler, the ace of Slifer Red! I'm gonna rise to the top, and don't any of you assholes forget it!"

At first, the spectators didn't know how to react. Slowly, though, they started to clap for the short duelist. Mina ran up to the short blonde and wrapped her arms around him in a great bear-hug. Ryu, Daichi, and Chase went up to Zach and congratulated him on his victory, while Becca tended to her brother. At the outer ring of the crowd stood Emma. The pink-haired girl pulled out her phone.

"Well?" she asked the person on the other end. "What do you think?"

"I think I've seen enough," said the male voice on the other end of the line. "There's no doubt about it, it's definitely him."

"So then what do we do now?" asked Emma.

"Now, there's one last thing we need to confirm. It's time for me to test him myself. Keep me posted. I'll be in touch."

* * *

><p><strong>And so that concludes chapter 3. Hope you all enjoyed! So, OC submitters, I have a question for you. What's your OC's biggest flawweakness.**

**Card of the Chapter:**

**Tri-Force Dragon**

**LIGHT**

**Level: 10**

**ATK: 3600/DEF: 2800**

**Dragon/Fusion/Effect: **_**Frost Dragon + Flare Dragon + Spark Dragon**_**. This card cannot be special summoned except by a fusion summon, and only with the above fusion material monsters. When this card destroys a monster as a result of battle, select and activate one of the following effects until the end phase:**

**This card can attack all monsters on your opponent's side of the field once each**

**This card can attack once again in a row**


	4. Pillar of Darkness

To say Zach was on a power trip was an understatement. It had only been a few days since Zach had beaten Neil, but he was relishing in the victory. Whenever Zach had a disagreement with another student, the other student would immediately back down, for fear of getting crushed by duel academy's newest rising star. Zach's friends, however, didn't think it was much of a problem. After all, beating two of the academy's best students is no small feat, and he had every reason to feel proud of himself. Who wouldn't?

Then Zach started getting stupid. He would intentionally instigate fights with the obelisk blues, even those who were clearly more than a match for him physically.

But thing really started to get out of hand when Zach began to break the dorm boundaries. When in class, members of the same dorm usually sat together. Reds would sit closer to the teacher, Blues would sit toward the back of the classroom, while Yellows would sit in the middle rows.

One day, he and Ryu were about to take their seat closer to the teacher when Zach said to Ryu, "you know what? I haven't hung out with Becca in a while. I think I'll go sit with her."

Ryu chuckled a little as Zach said this. Then he realized his friend was serious. "Do you even know how bad of an idea that is?" asked Ryu.

"It'll be fine," said Zach with a shrug. "What's the worst that can happen?"

"Zach," said Ryu, in an attempt to stop him, but the short blonde was already hoping up the stairs.

Becca was diligently reading her notes when Zach sat right next to her. She looked up from her notes. "Oh, hey Zach," she said. "Something wrong?"

"No," said Zach, matter-of-factly. "I just thought I'd spend some time with you since we hadn't talked in a while."

"Okay…" Becca thought it was a little weird that he wanted to talk so soon before class started, but she went along with it.

"I just wanted to make sure there were no hard feeling between us," said Zach. "You know, with me defeating your brother and all."

"Oh dear lord," muttered Ryu, who was listening in.

Becca was a little put off by this statement. There was a tone of smugness there that she had never heard before from the small blonde. "No, not at all. Why would there be?"

"Excuse me," said a voice. Zach turned around to see another Obelisk Blue girl standing over him, with two more next to her. "We were gonna sit here. Why don't you go sit with the rest of the slackers?"

"It's okay," Becca defended. "We're just talking. He'll be out of here in a couple minutes."

"Actually," said Zach as he put his feet up on the desk in front of him, "I kind of like it up here. I think I'll stay." Becca's eyes widened. She was mortified by his behavior.

"What was that?" the Blue girl growled. "Know your place slacker. This is where the Blues sit, where the Blue _Girls_ sit. You can't be here. So move. Now."

"And if I don't?"

"Then I'll make you," snarled the girl.

"Really?" asked Zach with a sly grin. "_You're_ going to make _me_ move? Just like Neil and David tried to make me move?"

"Hold on," said another girl. "You're _that_ red? The one who beat the two blues?"

"No way," said the leader of the three. "This kid's not him."

"You should listen to your friend," said Zach, maintaining his sly grin. "Want proof? Here it is." Zach showed the girls his Valkyron the Slayer and Deal with the Reaper cards. "So go ahead. Try me."

"Alright Zach, that's enough," said Ryu, walking toward the group. "End this. Come sit with us."

"N-no, that's okay," said the lead girl nervously. "We'll sit somewhere else." As the girls walked away, Ryu merely shook his head and went back to his seat.

"I think I'll go to," said Becca, as she closed her book and got up.

"A-alright," said Zach, a little surprised by his friend's reaction.

As Becca got up and began to move, she stopped. "You know, I thought you were a nice guy when I first met you. But you're a lot more like David than I would have thought. Let me know when you're not making an ass of yourself." Zach could only watch as she walked away.

* * *

><p>"Who does she think she is?" spat Zach, as he, Ryu, Daichi, and Mina walked back to the red dorm. "I'm nothing like David."<p>

"Oh no?" asked Ryu.

Zach stopped, and turned to Ryu. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, let's see," said Ryu, "Aside from the smugness, you flaunt your own skill and power to get your own way. You think that just because you're a better duelist, those weaker than you should bow before your might. Oh, and while I'm at it, isn't that cockiness what got you into trouble with Neil in the first place?"

"Oh please," Zach scoffed. "When did I act like that?"

"Are you serious?" Ryu questioned in disbelief. "What about those girls? You could have just moved and not been an ass, but no, you had to make a big show."

"So what?" asked Zach with a shrug. "All I'm doing is putting a few Blues in their place and teaching them to show a little respect."

"Do you even hear yourself?" exclaimed Ryu. "That's exactly what most Blues would say to justify them being assholes all the time! The only difference between you and them is the color of your jacket."

"Daichi," said Zach, turning to the blue-haired boy, "back me up here."

"I gotta go with Ryu on this one," he said, putting his hands on his hips. "You have been kind of a dick lately."

Zach was about to protest, when he heard a man clear his throat, a clear attempt to get the group's attention. It was a man of average height, draped in a muddy brown cloak that covered his whole body. "Zach Weiler?"

"Yeah?" Zach asked back. "Who's ask—," But before Zach could finish, the cloaked man was right in front of him. Before Zach could process what was happening, he received a quick jab to the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

"Hey, what—," Ryu spoke up, just as he was swept off his feet by the cloaked man and Daichi received a jab to the chest that sent him flying backwards. Without another word, the cloaked man dashed off into the woods.

Mina ran over to Zach. "Are you guys okay?"

"What," said Zach, coughing between words, "the hell was that?"

"That might have been an attempted theft," said Ryu, rubbing the back of his head. "Check your pockets."

When Ryu and Daichi searched themselves, neither one found anything amiss. Zach was not so lucky. "You've gotta be joking!" Zach yelled. "That bastard took my deck!" And he dashed off into the forest after him, with Ryu, Daichi and Mina in tow.

The four red's chased the cloaked man for a good five minutes before something started to feel off to Ryu. The cloaked man was dodging trees and stray roots like he had spent a lot of time in this forest. If that was the case, then he should have lost the four of them by now. Instead, the cloaked man was maintaining a consistent pace, running in a virtually straight line. On top of that, he seemed to maintain the same distance from the group for the entire chase. The cloaked man was neither gaining ground nor losing it.

"Hold up," said Ryu, coming to a stop.

"What?" asked Zach, "What's wrong?"

"Don't you think it's a little odd that we've been maintaining the same distance from this guy the entire chase?"

"Who the hell cares?" asked Zach. "We have to get my deck back, and if we keep standing here, we're gonna lose him!"

"Oh, I highly doubt that," said Ryu.

"What do you mean?"

"He's right there." Ryu pointed behind Zach. When the short blonde turned around, sure enough, there was the cloak man perched on a tree branch, watching the group.

"He's been baiting us," explained Ryu. "He doesn't want your deck. He wants you. Your deck is just the worm on the end of the hook."

"So then what are we supposed to do?" asked Mina, stepping in. "Just walk away? Without a deck, Zach'll be expelled, and without _his_ deck, he'll get crushed by everyone he's pissed off. Besides, at this point, we probably won't find our way back to the dorms on our own anyway."

"Well…" Unfortunately, Ryu didn't have an answer to that. While Ryu, Mina, and Zach stood there, thinking about what they should do, Daichi rolled his eyes, and tried for a more direct approach.

"Hey, you!" the blue haired boy called. "You with the cloak!" The mysterious man turned to the hyper-active blue-haired boy. "Yeah, you! We'll cut you a deal! Give us the deck, and we'll follow you, but you have to lead us back afterwards! Deal?"

After a moment of silence, the cloaked man answered back. "If I give you the deck, how do I know you won't take off?"

"How do we know you're not leading us into an ambush?" Daichi retorted. "Besides, even if we did take the deck and run, you know these forests better than us anyway! You could easily take us out like you did before!"

There was another pause while the cloaked man contemplated his options. "Deal." He tossed the deck case toward the group, about ten feet away from him.

"Okay, Zach," said Daichi, "Go and make sure that's yours." Zach nodded, and walked toward where the card case lay. Upon opening it, he searched the cards inside and nodded to Daichi. "Alright, mystery man, take us where you want to go."

After wandering around the forest for some time, the group entered a clearing. The trees seemed to be abnormally high here, and formed somewhat of a ceiling over a clear area about 50 feet around.

"Alright," said Zach, as the cloaked man turned to face him. Under the hood, the group could clearly see a pair of bright emerald green eyes. "Don't you think it's about time you took off that cloak? Who exactly are you?"

"I suppose it's only fair," said the cloaked man. "You've been cooperative so far. Alright fine." In one swift motion, he whipped off the mud-brown cloak, so the group could clearly see his figure. The first thing the group noticed was the he was jacked. He was only 5'8", but muscle seemed to be bulging from every part of his body. This might not have been so apparent had he been wearing a shirt, but alas, he was not. In fact, he didn't even have a school uniform on. Instead, he wore an open red and orange vest that looked Mexican in design, as well as a pair of khaki cargo pants and black commando boots with a pair of black leather bracers on his wrists. When they looked at his duel disk, they noticed it was one of the original models, one all the way back from Battle City. Despite its age though, it looked to be in pretty good condition. The man had messy, waist-length black hair, with a patch of red in front that seemed to form a V-shape.

"Okay," said Zach, "so why did you bring me all the way out here?"

"To duel," the man responded, activating his duel-disk.

"Duel?" asked Zach, almost laughing. "You brought us all the way out here for that?"

"Do I look like a student to you?" the man asked. "We couldn't exactly duel in public. There's something I need to find out, and the only way to do that is to duel you. Besides, you can't leave this forest without my help anyway, so what choice do you really have?"

"If that's what you want," Zach responded, activating his red-trimmed academy duel disk. "So what's your name?"

"If you wish, you may call me Okuma," the man responded.

"Alright then Okuma," Zach said, "let's do this."

Unbeknownst to the group of reds, a pair of light blue eyes was watching them from the tree tops. The blue eyes belonged to a girl with long, rose pink hair, held back by and embroidered white and blue hairband. _Let's see if you're right about this kid, Okuma_, she thought.

"Duel!"

Zach: 4000

Okuma: 4000

"I'll kick things off," stated Zach. "I'll start by summoning Ember Dragon in attack mode!" The red dragon appeared on Zach's field, letting out a screeching roar. (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1200) "And when it's summoned, I can add one Spark Dragon from my deck to my hand!" Zach searched his deck and pulled out Ember Dragon's yellow counterpart. "I don't have anything else, so I guess that's it."

"It's my turn then," said Okuma, drawing his card. "I'll summon my Horns Dragon, in attack mode." As he said this, a dragon with a body similar to Flare Dragon appeared on the field. The dragon was colored pitch black, with a violet underbelly, violet wings, and bright yellow eyes. The dragon had a stubby nose and two horns on each side of its head. (ATK: 1800/DEF: 1300)

"Go, Horns Dragon, attack his Ember Dragon!" declared Okuma. "Lightning wave!" Electricity began to crackle around the dragon's horns, which then fired at the red dragon on Zach's field.

Zach: 4000→3900

"Wait," started Zach, "Why'd I only take 100 points of damage?"

"A level three monster with 1800 atk has to have some sort of drawback," Okuma explained. "In this case, any battle damage Horns Dragon inflicts is halved. I'll end my turn there."

"Alright then," said Zach as he drew. "I summon Brave Knight, in attack mode!" The white and gold armored warrior appeared on the field, slashing its broadsword. (ATK: 1900/DEF: 1500) "Go, slay his dragon!" The gleaming white knight charged forward, cleaving the dragon's head off.

Okuma: 4000→3900

"I'll play one card face down and end my turn there."

"Then it's back to me," Okuma declared. "And I summon Spiner Dragon, in attack mode!" A monster that looked like a brown Spinosaurus with pitch black wings rose to the field. (ATK: 2000/DEF: 1600) "Go, Spiner Dragon! Attack his Knight!" The dragon whipped around, slamming its long tail into Brave Knight, causing the noble warrior to be thrown into a tree.

Zach: 3900→3800

"That's not all," stated Okuma. "When Spiner Dragon destroys a monster in battle, you take 300 points of damage."

Zach: 3800→3500

"Tell me that card has a drawback too," said Zach.

"As a matter of fact, it does," Okuma replied. "Spiner Dragon can't make a direct attack."

"I suppose I should consider myself lucky," Zach remarked. "So is that it?" When Okuma nodded, Zach drew his card and smirked. "Okay, I summon Ghost Warrior in attack mode!" The white samurai twirled its spear in the air before landing in a battle stance. (ATK: 1400/DEF: 800) "Next, I'll use the effect of my Phantom Horse from my hand! If I control a face-up Ghost Warrior, I can special summon it!" A gleaming white horse with a violet saddle leaped into the air and landed next to the white samurai (ATK: 700/DEF: 900)

"Now, I tune my Level 3 Ghost Warrior to my Level 3 Phantom Horse!" Ghost Warrior slowly faded into three green rings of light, which then surrounded Phantom Horse, who faded into three orbs of light. A large beam of light then shot through the three green rings. "Synchro Summon! Strike him down, Phantom Paladin!" As the light faded, a mounted horseman in bulky white armor wielding a long partisan appeared on the field. (ATK: 2600/DEF: 1400) "Let's do this! Phantom Paladin, attack his Spiner Dragon! Partisan Slash!" The white horseman charged forward, driving its spear into the dragon and skewering the beast.

Okuma: 3900→3300

"I use Phantom Paladin's effect!" declared Zach. "When it destroys a monster in battle, I can return one card in my graveyard to my deck! And the card I choose is Brave Knight!" As the card slid out of Zach's graveyard, Zach placed it on the top of his deck, which then shuffled itself. "Turn end."

"Then it's my turn," said Okuma calmly. The look in his eyes was the same. It was impossible for Zach to get a read on this guy. "Alright," the black-haired man said, "I summon the level three tuner monster Fangs Dragon, in attack mode!" A small, black dragon with a yellowish underbelly and abnormally large teeth appeared on Okuma's field. (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1300)

"Now," Okuma cried, "I tune my face-up Fangs Dragon to the level four Spiner Dragon and level three Horns Dragon in my graveyard!"

"You're doing what?" cried Zach.

"It can't be," said Daichi

"Reborn Synchro," Ryu finished.

"You didn't think you were the only one with this power, did you?" Okuma roared. As he did, faint images of Spiner Dragon and Horns Dragon appeared beside Fangs Dragon. The two images then became beams of black light, which began to flow into the smaller dragon. "The souls of fallen dragons manifest in a single body to take vengeance upon the living! Seek thy vengeance and drag them to hell!" At that moment, the small black dragon was enveloped in a pillar of dark energy. "Reborn Synchro! The pillar of darkness, Chaos End Dragon!" When the black light faded, there stood a gigantic three headed dragon, with teal colored skin and shining golden armor in various places, as well as bright red eyes on each head. It almost looked like a hairless, three-headed version of Chaos Emperor Dragon. (ATK: 3000/DEF: 2800)

As Zach looked up at the monster, all he felt was terror. Not even Neil's trio of Lightning Storm Dragon's had this much of an impact on him.

"Scared?" Okuma asked. "You should be, because Chaos End Dragon can attack three times in the same battle phase."

"It can what?" asked Zach, astonished.

"Three times?" asked Ryu. "That's insane! It's like a one turn kill in a single card!"

"Battle!" cried Okuma. "Chaos End Dragon, take out his Phantom Paladin!"

Zach frantically searched his hand and field for an option, but there was nothing. His face-down card was Sword Break, a card that was less than useless against a beat stick of this magnitude. _I'm totally f*cked_, Zach thought. The dragon's middle head unleashed a blast of fire at the white horseman, incinerating it.

Zach: 3500→3300

"What the hell?" asked Daichi.

"Zach only took two hundred damage!" exclaimed Mina.

"Don't tell me," said Zach.

"You guessed it," Okuma replied. "Any battle damage Chaos End Dragon inflicts is halved."

Zach breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm safe."

"Safe?" asked Okuma. "I still have two attacks left for 1500 points each. You're anything but safe. Chaos End Dragon, attack! Flames of Chaos!" The dragon's two outer heads each unleashed a beam of fire, scorching the ground as they made their way toward Zach."

Zach: 3300→300

Zach braced himself, expecting to burn from the flames. This did not happen.

"This isn't like your duel with Neil," Okuma reminded. "It's just a hologram."

"Yeah," said Zach, a bead of sweat running down his brow. _Still_, he thought, _I'm down to only 300 life points, while he has his strongest monster on the field_. If I don't get something good next turn, I'm done.

"I'll set a card and end my turn," said Okuma.

"Okay then," said Zach. "My turn." _C'mon deck. You've never let me down before. Don't start now_. As Zach drew his card, he almost cried with joy. "Spell card!" cried Zach. "Monster Reborn! So now, I can special summon one monster from either of our graveyards. Come on back, Ember Dragon!" A hole opened up in the ground, from which the red dragon rose, folding its wings over its body as if trying to protect itself. "Next, I summon Spark Dragon, in attack mode!" The red dragon's yellow counterpart appeared right beside it, taking a more aggressive stance than its brother. (ATK: 1800/DEF:500). "When this card is summon, I can add one Frost Dragon to my hand!" Zach searched through his deck and plucked out the last of the trio of dragons, this one colored a light blue.

"Now, I play the spell card, Polymerization!" Zach cried, jamming the spell into his duel disk. "With this, I can fuse my Spark Dragon, Ember Dragon, and Frost Dragon together to form my strongest monster!" The image of Frost Dragon appeared on Zach's field next to its two counterparts. Within seconds, all three dragons were pulled into a vortex of swirling purple dust. "I summon Tri-Force Dragon, in attack mode!" The purple dust dispersed, revealing the large, mostly red three-headed dragon. (ATK: 3600/DEF: 2800)

"Time to end this!" Zach cried. "Battle! Tri-Force Dragon, attack his Chaos End Dragon! Tri-Force Blast!" The Yellow, Blue, and Red head of the dragon each unleashed a blast of energy at Okuma's three-headed dragon.

"So it's a battle of dragons, is it?" asked Okuma. "Fine, I'll take you on! Chaos End Dragon, counterattack! Flames of Chaos!" The teal and gold dragon unleashed a blast of fire from each of its three heads, each blast colliding with a blast of energy from Tri-Force Dragon. The attacks collided in mid-air, each one trying to overpower the other.

"Your dragon may be strong," said Zach as the attack of Tri-Force dragon began to overpower that of its opponent, "But _my_ dragon is stronger!"

"Is that so?"

"What do you mean?" asked Zach, taking a step back.

"I activate my face-down!" cried Okuma, revealing a facedown quick-play spell. "Dragon Surge! Until the end phase, one of my dragons gets 1000 atk. And I think you know which one I intend to pick." Suddenly, there was a banging sound, and the blasts of fire from Chaos End Dragon reinforced themselves, becoming larger in width and more intense. (ATK: 3000→4000) Slowly, the blasts of fire began to overpower Tri-Force Dragon's blasts of energy, and the three-headed red dragon started to give way. Though Tri-Force Dragon tried its best to fight back, it was soon overpowered and engulfed in its opponent's flames.

Zach was mortified. His best monster had just been destroyed. The short blonde slumped to his knees. He couldn't see any way out of this.

"And don't forget," said Okuma, "all battle damage is halved."

Zach: 300→100

"Yikes," said Daichi. "Zach might actually lose this."

"So, what will it be Zach," asked Okuma. "Are you gonna keep fighting? Or give in?"

Zach was stunned. He wasn't sure what he could do. He had two cards in his hand, neither of which could really help in this situation. _Maybe it's time to call it quits_, he thought. Zach reached for his deck. This was it. He was done.

"How disappointing," said Okuma, causing Zach to look up. "This is the best you're capable of? Maybe I was wrong about you."

He's right, Zach thought. I'm weak. I'm nothing. I belong in Red. I deserve to be in the bottom of the barrel.

Ryu gritted his teeth. He couldn't take this anymore. "Zach, what the hell are you doing?" he snapped. "You've got three cards to work with! Are you telling me you're just going to give up?"

"What else can I do?" asked Zach. "He just took out my strongest monster…"

"So what?" Ryu bellowed. "When someone knocks you down, you get back up and fight! Do you even realize what you did by beating Neil? You proved to everyone that even when the odds are stacked against you, as long you believe in yourself, anything is possible! If you give up now, then your victories before this will be meaningless!"

Zach looked at the two remaining cards in his hand. Deep down, he knew Ryu was right. If Zach gave up now, he would prove that Neil was right about him all along, and that his victory would be meaningless. Zach turned and nodded to his black-haired friend. "Thanks Ryu. I'm not gonna give up yet." He turned to Okuma. "I'm gonna stick it out until the end!"

"Is that so," said Okuma with a smirk. "Well then, show me what you've got."

"Will do," Zach responded, plucking a card from his hand. "I play the spell card Reload! With this, I can return my last card to my deck to draw a new one."

"Putting your faith in a single card, are you?" Okuma questioned.

"It's worked for me before," Zach said, placing the last card in his hand into his deck, which then shuffled automatically. "Alright," said Zach, placing his forefinger and middle finger on the top card of his deck, "here goes!" He looked at his newly drawn card and smirked. It wasn't much for now, but it was something. "I use the effect of my Temporal Alchemist! If you control a monster but I don't, I can special summon this card from my hand." A skinny man in dark purple robes weiling a long, silver staff appeared on the field, its face hidden beneath the shadows of his hood. (ATK: 400/DEF: 300) "When this card it summoned by this effect, I can draw one card from my deck, but I can't use it for a tribute summon this turn." When Zach drew his next card, he breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like he would be able to hold out another turn after all. "Next I'll play one card face down and end my turn."

"I see," remarked Okuma. "I must admit, I'm curious to see what your face-down is. Can it beat my dragon?"

"Why don't you attack and find out," said Zach with a cocky smirk.

"I see renewed fire in your eyes," said Okuma, drawing his card. "Good. It'll make this duel more interesting." He looked at his draw. _Alright Zach, let's see if you can get out of this one_. "I activate the equip spell, Golden Dragon Armor!" As he said this, his three-headed dragon became plated into gleaming golden armor. "If the monster equipped with this card would be destroyed, this card gets destroyed instead. Also, when its equipped to Chaos End Dragon, it gets an additional 1000 ATK points." (ATK: 3000→4000)

"Well, crap," muttered Daichi.

"So much for his face-down," stated Ryu.

But Zach just smirked. "An equip spell, huh?" asked Zach. "You didn't forget my other face-down, did you?"

"Other face-down?"

"That's right!" cried Zach. "The quick-play spell, Sword Break! It destroys one equip card on the field, and then lets me draw one card!" Okuma's eyes widened as the golden armor on his dragon shattered and Zach drew a card, finally putting something in his hand. "You won't get off that easy," cried Zach.

Okuma smirked. He was starting to have some fun. But he had a job to do, and couldn't get distracted. "So that's how it's going to be, huh? Fine. Chaos End Dragon, attack his Temporal Alchemist! Flames of Chaos!" The leftmost head of the dragon let out a roaring stream of fire that traveled toward the robed magician, reducing it to nothing more than ash. "Chaos End Dragon, end this duel!" The dragon's right head let out its own stream of fire, which began traveling toward Zach.

"Trap card!" Zach cried. "Draining Sheild!" The dragon's flames struck a barrier of greenish light. Everyone's hair flapped wildly and they were forced to cover their faces as the three-headed dragon's attack drove against the barrier. "This negates your monsters attack and give me life points equal to the attack of your monster!"

Zach: 100→3100

"Plus, since your monster halves battle damage, I'll only lose 1500 life points from its third attack, meaning I receive a net gain of 1500, putting me back in this duel!"

_Wow_, thought Emma, watching the duel from the tree tops. _This kid's really giving Okuma a run for his money. He just won't go down._

"You're a persistent little bugger, aren't you?" asked Okuma.

"What can I say," said Zach with a shrug. "It's part of my charm."

"I can see that. But don't celebrate just yet! Chaos End Dragon, deliver your third attack! Flames of Chaos!" The middle head of the dragon let out one final blast of fire, striking Zach head on.

Zach: 3100→1600

"I'll play one card face down, and end my turn there."

"Alright then," said Zach, looking at the lone card in his hand. The card was Forbidden Chalice, a card that would temporarily negate Chaos End Dragon's effect at the cost of giving it 400 more attack points. Still, if Zach drew a monster, it would give him one more turn, though this was only a temporary fix. "Alright deck, let's see what you have for me." When Zach drew his card, he raised his eyes. This wasn't the card he expected at all. Looking back and forth between the two cards, he developed a devilish smirk. "Oh, you're gonna love this."

Okuma was a little taken aback by this statement. "What do you mean by that?"

_What could this kid have planned?_ Emma wondered.

"Alright," roared Zach, "I summon the level three tuner monster Life Mage, in attack mode!" A monster that looked like a teenage Dark Magician in silver and white robes with silver hair appeared on Zach's field. (ATK: 1900/DEF: 200) "When this card is summoned, my opponent draws two cards!" Okuma frowned as he added the top two cards of his deck to his hand. "Also, by switching it to defense mode when it's summoned, I can summon a level 3 or lower monster from my graveyard! Appear now, Phantom Horse!" The silvery horse leaped up from a hole in the ground and galloped onto the field.

"Now, I tune my level three Life Mage to my level three phantom horse!" The white-robed mage faded into three rings of green light while the silvery horse galloped into the middle of the three rings. "Synchro Summon! Show them your power, Lifeforce Magister!" The white robed mage was now significantly older, but still had a youthful appearance about him. His robes were a lot more layered, and resembled that of Dark Sage. He had a long silver staff, with a large sapphire crystal hovering at the end. (ATK: 2400/DEF: 1500)

"I use Lifeforce Magister's effect!" cried Zach. "This lets me summon one level four or lower monster from my graveyard, but my magister can't attack this turn. The one I bring back is Ghost Warrior!" A bright blue light emitted from the white mage's staff. A hole opened up in the ground, and the white armored Samurai leaped onto the field.(ATK: 1400/DEF: 800)

"Now, I tune my level three Ghost Warrior to my level three Phantom Horse and level four Spark Dragon in my graveyard!" The faint images of Zach's two monsters began to flow into the white samurai. A pillar of rainbow light then shot up, enveloping Zach's field.

_Here it comes_, Okuma thought. _Now it's time to see if I'm right about this kid_.

"The lone warrior unites with the souls of his fallen comrades to unleash a new power! Become my guide and illuminate the path to heaven! Reborn Synchro! The pillar of light, Valkyron the Slayer!" The rainbow light faded, and two figures were left standing there, staring Okuma down. The first was Lifeforce Magister, panting heavily, its staff at its side. The second was an angelic figure, a being plated in gleaming white armor with six wings of multicolored light. Valkyron the Slayer. (ATK: 0/DEF: 0) "Alright Okuma, you ready for this?"

"You have no idea how ready I am," the muscular man replied. Suddenly, glowing, jagged, blue tattoos started to appear all over Okuma's body, startling the four reds.

"What's up with his body?" Mina asked.

"You might wanna brace yourself," Okuma suggested to Zach. "This is gonna sting a little."

"What do you—," but Zach was cut off from his sentence as a burning sensation filled his whole body. He let out a yelp of pain.

"Zach!" cried Mina.

"As for the rest of you," Okuma said to the three bystanders, "you'll wanna watch this. You'll probably never see anything like this again."

Just then, Chaos End Dragon set its sights on Lifeforce Magister. The mighty three-headed dragon unleashed a wave of flames from its three mouths, all three of them aimed at the magician.

"What's going on?" asked Daichi. "Why is that dragon attacking Zach's Magician? Isn't it Zach's turn?"

"I've never seen duel monsters act without a duelist telling them too," commented Ryu.

The young white mage closed his eyes and braced itself, but nothing happened. As the white-robed mage opened its eyes, standing in from of it was Valkyron, taking the full force of the flames, with its arms and wings fully spread out. It seemed to be almost drawing the flames into its palms. Still taking the full force of the flames, the angelic figure turned its head to the mage, colored glass eyes meeting human ones. The mage nodded, as if it understood something. When it did, Valkyron turned back to face the dragon.

_What's going on_, Zach asked himself. _I didn't order my cards to do anything, so why_—? A new wave of pain shot through the young teen, causing to let out a roar of agony. Shining blue markings started to appear all over his body, seeming to shine right through his clothes. They looked like the same ones Okuma had.

"His markings are the same as mine?" Okuma asked himself in a stunned tone.

Meanwhile, a battle of wills still raged between Chaos End Dragon and Valkyron the Slayer. It was now apparent that not all of the flames were coming from the mighty dragon. Some of them were being generated by Valkyron himself. Finally, Valkyron let out what could best be described as a roar, and thrust its arms forward, causing the fire to shoot back up toward the great dragon and explode in its face. Chaos End Dragon's three heads roared in anger.

Rainbow light erupted from Valkyron's hands as it got ready to charge. It leaped forward high into the air and threw its fist into the dragon's middle head. The left and right heads then each fired a blast of heat at Valkyron, who managed to fly higher into the air to get out of the way and generated a spear of light in one of its palms. It hurled the spear of light downward, piercing the right head of Chaos End Dragon and causing it to collapse. The other two heads roared in anger and pain. Before they could react, Valkyron generated a large blade of light in its right hand, and swung it, swiftly cleaving the dragon's left head off.

As Valkyron landed, on the ground, the dragon's last and middle head let loose a wave of fire. The angelic figure leaped to the side to dodge, but the dragon's attack continued to follow it. Seeing he couldn't out run the blast, Valkyron leapt in the air and delivered a swift kick to the dragon's final head, causing the flames to stop and the dragon's head to fall to the ground. Battered and broken, the dragon tried to get up, but it was no use. Valkyron landed in front of the dragon and generated an enormous blade of light with its two palms. Finally, Valkyron swung downward, unleashing a wave of light, slicing what was left of the dragon in two. The wave of light headed straight toward Okuma, washing over him.

Okuma: 3300→1800

_Unbelievable_, Okuma thought as the blue markings began to fade from his body. _His markings are the same as mine. _He then smirked._ Ah well, I suppose it was foolish to assume otherwise._

At that moment, the shining blue markings started to fade from Zach as well, as did the pain coursing through his body. "What…the hell was that?" asked Zach, astonished. "Okuma!" he cried. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do a thing," replied Okuma. "You're the one who summoned your Valkyron. You set off the reaction, not me."

"What reaction?" Zach cried. "What are you talking about? And what happened with our monsters just now?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Okuma replied. "Now, it's still your turn if I'm correct. Or was slaying my dragon with Valkyron your last play?"

Zach growled. It was obvious he wouldn't get a straight answer from Okuma. "No, it's not! I activate the last card in my hand, Forbidden Chalice. This card increases the attack of one monster by 400, but its effect is negated. And the monster I choose," said Zach, pointing toward his mage, "is Lifeforce Magister!" (ATK: 2400→2800)

Okuma's eyes narrowed. "Meaning it can attack this turn after all."

"That's exactly right!" cried Zach. "Lifeforce Magister, end this duel! Lifeforce Cannon!" A ball of white magical energy formed on the end of the mage's staff, which he then hurled at the muscular black-haired duelist.

"Trap card," Okuma declared. "Nutrient Z!"

"MOTHERF*CKER!"

"When I would take 2000 or more points of damage, this card increases my life points by 4000 before damage calculation." Zach let out a cry of frustration, as a blue aura surrounded Okuma.

Okuma: 1800→5800

The orb of magical energy flew straight toward the black-haired duelist. Okuma crossed his arms, bracing himself for the impact. The orb of magical energy exploded on impact, causing Okuma to close his eyes and his hair to flap around wildly.

Okuma: 5800→3000

"Well," said Ryu, "that sucks."

"What do you mean?" asked Mina.

"Valkyron's attack boosting effect only works on my turn," Zach explained. "If this guy summons a monster with 1600 attack or more, then I lose." Zach smirked and looked at Okuma. "You've already got one in your hand, don't you?"

Maintaining his calm expression, Okuma looked at his hand. One of his cards was Infernal Dragon, a four star 2000 attack point monster. Yes, it would get destroyed during the end phase, but that wouldn't matter. One attack on Zach's Valkyron, and his life would be reduced to 0.

"Okuma," said Zach suddenly, causing the black-haired man to look up. "I want to ask you about something you said earlier." Okuma nodded in response. "You said this was nothing like my duel with Neil. How exactly do you know about that duel? How much do you know about me?" When the black-haired man didn't respond, Zach chuckled, and let out a sigh. "I end my turn."

"I see," said Okuma. He stood there for a few moments without drawing. Finally, he placed his hand on his deck. "I surrender."

This shocked Zach and the other three reds. "You what?"

"I have no intention of continuing this duel," Okuma replied. "I brought you here to test you. I'm sorry to say whether you passed or failed this test was entirely out of your control. Even so, I am glad you did pass. I would regret having to fight you in the future." Okuma deactivated his duel disk, causing the holographic images to fade. "You asked me earlier how I knew about your duel with Neil. The truth is I've been watching you since the boat to this island, when you beat David. In all honesty, I had no intention of finding you when I decided to travel here, though it is very lucky that I did. Now, as part of our agreement, I'll to lead you out of these woods." Okuma walked over to where he left his cloak and threw it on himself, pulling the hood up. "Come. We should go before it gets dark."

* * *

><p>Okuma kept a good distance ahead of the group, so he didn't talk to them the entire way back. When they finally reached the end of the woods, they were standing in front of the red dorm. "This is where I must leave you," Okuma said to the group.<p>

"Wait," beckoned Zach. "Who are you really? You told us your name, but we have no idea who you really are. And what did you mean about not having to fight me in the future?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Okuma answered back. "In the meantime, just know that there are others like you and I, people with the same blue markings. When the time comes, they will be your greatest allies. As for me, count on use seeing each other again real soon." Okuma turned to leave, but then stopped. "Oh, and one last thing. Stay away from the ones with the red tattoos. They're dangerous, and if they find out who you are, we'll all be in trouble." And with that, Okuma dashed off into the woods.

"Well," said Daichi, "that was weird."

"Let's head back to the dorm," said Ryu. "I'm kinda hungry."

"Hang on guys," said Zach. The group turned to face him. "I want to apologize to you guys. I know I was being kind of a…"

"An asshole?"

"A self-righteous prick?"

"A pompous windbag?"

"Yeah," said Zach, sweatdropping. "Those. Anyway, I wanted to tell you guys I'm sorry, and it won't happen again. If I ever act like that—,"

"Apology accepted," replied Ryu, a big grin on his face. "And if you start acting like a douche again, I solemnly swear to punch you in the face."

"Same here," Daichi added.

"Good to know," said Zach. As he and his friends walked back to the dorm, he couldn't help but feel something big was about to happen, and that this incident was only the beginning.

* * *

><p><strong>Card of the Chapter:<strong>

**Chaos End Dragon**

**DARK**

**Level: 10**

**ATK: 3000/DEF: 2800**

**Dragon/Synchro/Effect: **_**1 face-up DARK tuner + 1 or more non-tuner monsters in your graveyard**_**. This card can attack three times in the same battle phase. Any battle damage this card inflicts is halved. Once per turn, you can negate the effect of a trap card that designates this card as a target and destroy it.**


End file.
